Testing modified gravity using a marked correlation function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armijo, Joaquí n.; Cai, Yan-Chuan; Padilla, Nelson; Li, Baojiu; Peacock, John A.

2018-05-01

In theories of modified gravity with the chameleon screening mechanism, the strength of the fifth force depends on environment. This induces an environment dependence of structure formation, which differs from ΛCDM. We show that these differences can be captured by the marked correlation function. With the galaxy correlation functions and number densities calibrated to match between f(R) and ΛCDM models in simulations, we show that the marked correlation functions from using either the local galaxy number density or halo mass as the marks encode extra information, which can be used to test these theories. We discuss possible applications of these statistics in observations.

Differential effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation on arm position sense in right- vs. left-handers.

PubMed

Schmidt, Lena; Artinger, Frank; Stumpf, Oliver; Kerkhoff, Georg

2013-04-01

The human brain is organized asymmetrically in two hemispheres with different functional specializations. Left- and right-handers differ in many functional capacities and their anatomical representations. Right-handers often show a stronger functional lateralization than left-handers, the latter showing a more bilateral, symmetrical brain organization. Recent functional imaging evidence shows a different lateralization of the cortical vestibular system towards the side of the preferred hand in left- vs. right-handers as well. Since the vestibular system is involved in somatosensory processing and the coding of body position, vestibular stimulation should affect such capacities differentially in left- vs. right-handers. In the present, sham-stimulation-controlled study we explored this hypothesis by studying the effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) on proprioception in both forearms in left- and right-handers. Horizontal arm position sense (APS) was measured with an opto-electronic device. Second, the polarity-specific online- and after-effects of subsensory, bipolar GVS on APS were investigated in different sessions separately for both forearms. At baseline, both groups did not differ in their unsigned errors for both arms. However, right-handers showed significant directional errors in APS of both arms towards their own body. Right-cathodal/left-anodal GVS, resulting in right vestibular cortex activation, significantly deteriorated left APS in right-handers, but had no detectable effect on APS in left-handers in either arm. These findings are compatible with a right-hemisphere dominance for vestibular functions in right-handers and a differential vestibular organization in left-handers that compensates for the disturbing effects of GVS on APS. Moreover, our results show superior arm proprioception in left-handers in both forearms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantitative and Functional Requirements for Bioluminescent Cancer Models.

PubMed

Feys, Lynn; Descamps, Benedicte; Vanhove, Christian; Vermeulen, Stefan; Vandesompele, J O; Vanderheyden, Katrien; Messens, Kathy; Bracke, Marc; De Wever, Olivier

2016-01-01

Bioluminescent cancer models are widely used but detailed quantification of the luciferase signal and functional comparison with a non-transfected control cell line are generally lacking. In the present study, we provide quantitative and functional tests for luciferase-transfected cells. We quantified the luciferase expression in BLM and HCT8/E11 transfected cancer cells, and examined the effect of long-term luciferin exposure. The present study also investigated functional differences between parental and transfected cancer cells. Our results showed that quantification of different single-cell-derived populations are superior with droplet digital polymerase chain reaction. Quantification of luciferase protein level and luciferase bioluminescent activity is only useful when there is a significant difference in copy number. Continuous exposure of cell cultures to luciferin leads to inhibitory effects on mitochondrial activity, cell growth and bioluminescence. These inhibitory effects correlate with luciferase copy number. Cell culture and mouse xenograft assays showed no significant functional differences between luciferase-transfected and parental cells. Luciferase-transfected cells should be validated by quantitative and functional assays before starting large-scale experiments. Copyright © 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Biogeochemical and Ecomorphological Niche Segregation of Mediterranean Woody Species along a Local Gradient.

PubMed

de la Riva, Enrique G; Marañón, Teodoro; Violle, Cyrille; Villar, Rafael; Pérez-Ramos, Ignacio M

2017-01-01

According with niche theory the species are specialized in different ecological niches, being able to coexist as result of a differential use of resources. In this context, the biogeochemical niche hypothesis proposes that species have an optimal elemental composition which results from the link between the chemical and morphological traits for the optimum plant functioning. Thus, and attending to the limiting similarity concept, different elemental composition and plant structure among co-occurring species may reduce competition, promoting different functional niches. Different functional habits associated with leaf life-span or growth forms are associated with different strategies for resource uptake, which could promote niche partitioning. In the present study, based on the biogeochemical niche concept and the use of resources in different proportions, we have focused on leaf traits (morphological and chemical) associated with resource uptake, and explored the niche partitioning among functional habits: leaf life-span (deciduous, evergreen, and semideciduous) and growth (tree, shrub, and arborescent-shrub). To this end, we have quantified the hypervolume of the leaf functional trait space (both structure and chemical composition) in a sample of 45 Mediterranean woody species from Sierra Morena Mountains (Spain) growing along a local soil resource gradient. Our results show consistent variation in functional space for woody communities distributed along the environmental gradient. Thus, communities dominated by deciduous trees with faster growth and a predominant acquisitive strategy were characteristic of bottom forests and showed highest leaf biogeochemical space. While semideciduous shrubs and evergreen (arborescent, trees) species, characterized by a conservative strategy, dominated ridge forests and showed smaller functional space. In addition, within each topographical zone or environment type, the foliar biogeochemical niche partitioning would underlie the species ability to coexist by diverging on leaf nutrient composition and resource uptake. Lower niche overlap among functional habits were found, which support that different growth forms and leaf life-habits may facilitate the coexistence of the woody species and niche partitioning along and within the gradient.

Acquired Phototrophy through Retention of Functional Chloroplasts Increases Growth Efficiency of the Sea Slug Elysia viridis

PubMed Central

Baumgartner, Finn A.; Pavia, Henrik; Toth, Gunilla B.

2015-01-01

Photosynthesis is a fundamental process sustaining heterotrophic organisms at all trophic levels. Some mixotrophs can retain functional chloroplasts from food (kleptoplasty), and it is hypothesized that carbon acquired through kleptoplasty may enhance trophic energy transfer through increased host growth efficiency. Sacoglossan sea slugs are the only known metazoans capable of kleptoplasty, but the relative fitness contributions of heterotrophy through grazing, and phototrophy via kleptoplasts, are not well understood. Fitness benefits (i.e. increased survival or growth) of kleptoplasty in sacoglossans are commonly studied in ecologically unrealistic conditions under extended periods of complete darkness and/or starvation. We compared the growth efficiency of the sacoglossan Elysia viridis with access to algal diets providing kleptoplasts of differing functionality under ecologically relevant light conditions. Individuals fed Codium fragile, which provide highly functional kleptoplasts, nearly doubled their growth efficiency under high compared to low light. In contrast, individuals fed Cladophora rupestris, which provided kleptoplasts of limited functionality, showed no difference in growth efficiency between light treatments. Slugs feeding on Codium, but not on Cladophora, showed higher relative electron transport rates (rETR) in high compared to low light. Furthermore, there were no differences in the consumption rates of the slugs between different light treatments, and only small differences in nutritional traits of algal diets, indicating that the increased growth efficiency of E. viridis feeding on Codium was due to retention of functional kleptoplasts. Our results show that functional kleptoplasts from Codium can provide sacoglossan sea slugs with fitness advantages through photosynthesis. PMID:25830355

Functional properties of myoglobins from five whale species with different diving capacities.

PubMed

Helbo, Signe; Fago, Angela

2012-10-01

Whales show an exceptionally wide range of diving capabilities and many express high amounts of the O(2) carrier protein myoglobin (Mb) in their muscle tissues, which increases their aerobic diving capacity. Although previous studies have mainly focused on the muscle Mb concentration and O(2) carrying capacity as markers of diving behavior in whales, it still remains unexplored whether whale Mbs differ in their O(2) affinities and nitrite reductase and peroxidase enzymatic activities, all functions that could contribute to differences in diving capacities. In this study, we have measured the functional properties of purified Mbs from five toothed whales and two baleen whales and have examined their correlation with average dive duration. Results showed that some variation in functional properties exists among whale Mbs, with toothed whale Mbs having higher O(2) affinities and nitrite reductase activities (similar to those of horse Mb) compared with baleen whale Mbs. However, these differences did not correlate with average dive duration. Instead, a significant correlation was found between whale Mb concentration and average duration and depth of dives, and between O(2) affinity and nitrite reductase activity when including horse Mb. Despite the fact that the functional properties showed little species-specific differences in vitro, they may still contribute to enhancing diving capacity as a result of the increased muscle Mb concentration found in extreme divers. In conclusion, Mb concentration rather than specific functional reactivities may support whale diving performance.

Same but not alike: Structure, flexibility and energetics of domains in multi-domain proteins are influenced by the presence of other domains

PubMed Central

Vishwanath, Sneha

2018-01-01

The majority of the proteins encoded in the genomes of eukaryotes contain more than one domain. Reasons for high prevalence of multi-domain proteins in various organisms have been attributed to higher stability and functional and folding advantages over single-domain proteins. Despite these advantages, many proteins are composed of only one domain while their homologous domains are part of multi-domain proteins. In the study presented here, differences in the properties of protein domains in single-domain and multi-domain systems and their influence on functions are discussed. We studied 20 pairs of identical protein domains, which were crystallized in two forms (a) tethered to other proteins domains and (b) tethered to fewer protein domains than (a) or not tethered to any protein domain. Results suggest that tethering of domains in multi-domain proteins influences the structural, dynamic and energetic properties of the constituent protein domains. 50% of the protein domain pairs show significant structural deviations while 90% of the protein domain pairs show differences in dynamics and 12% of the residues show differences in the energetics. To gain further insights on the influence of tethering on the function of the domains, 4 pairs of homologous protein domains, where one of them is a full-length single-domain protein and the other protein domain is a part of a multi-domain protein, were studied. Analyses showed that identical and structurally equivalent functional residues show differential dynamics in homologous protein domains; though comparable dynamics between in-silico generated chimera protein and multi-domain proteins were observed. From these observations, the differences observed in the functions of homologous proteins could be attributed to the presence of tethered domain. Overall, we conclude that tethered domains in multi-domain proteins not only provide stability or folding advantages but also influence pathways resulting in differences in function or regulatory properties. PMID:29432415

Same but not alike: Structure, flexibility and energetics of domains in multi-domain proteins are influenced by the presence of other domains.

PubMed

Vishwanath, Sneha; de Brevern, Alexandre G; Srinivasan, Narayanaswamy

2018-02-01

The majority of the proteins encoded in the genomes of eukaryotes contain more than one domain. Reasons for high prevalence of multi-domain proteins in various organisms have been attributed to higher stability and functional and folding advantages over single-domain proteins. Despite these advantages, many proteins are composed of only one domain while their homologous domains are part of multi-domain proteins. In the study presented here, differences in the properties of protein domains in single-domain and multi-domain systems and their influence on functions are discussed. We studied 20 pairs of identical protein domains, which were crystallized in two forms (a) tethered to other proteins domains and (b) tethered to fewer protein domains than (a) or not tethered to any protein domain. Results suggest that tethering of domains in multi-domain proteins influences the structural, dynamic and energetic properties of the constituent protein domains. 50% of the protein domain pairs show significant structural deviations while 90% of the protein domain pairs show differences in dynamics and 12% of the residues show differences in the energetics. To gain further insights on the influence of tethering on the function of the domains, 4 pairs of homologous protein domains, where one of them is a full-length single-domain protein and the other protein domain is a part of a multi-domain protein, were studied. Analyses showed that identical and structurally equivalent functional residues show differential dynamics in homologous protein domains; though comparable dynamics between in-silico generated chimera protein and multi-domain proteins were observed. From these observations, the differences observed in the functions of homologous proteins could be attributed to the presence of tethered domain. Overall, we conclude that tethered domains in multi-domain proteins not only provide stability or folding advantages but also influence pathways resulting in differences in function or regulatory properties.

Exotic species enhance response diversity to land-use change but modify functional composition.

PubMed

Stavert, Jamie R; Pattemore, David E; Gaskett, Anne C; Beggs, Jacqueline R; Bartomeus, Ignasi

2017-08-16

Two main mechanisms may buffer ecosystem functions despite biodiversity loss. First, multiple species could share similar ecological roles, thus providing functional redundancy. Second, species may respond differently to environmental change (response diversity). However, ecosystem function would be best protected when functionally redundant species also show response diversity. This linkage has not been studied directly, so we investigated whether native and exotic pollinator species with similar traits (functional redundancy) differed in abundance (response diversity) across an agricultural intensification gradient. Exotic pollinator species contributed most positive responses, which partially stabilized overall abundance of the pollinator community. However, although some functionally redundant species exhibited response diversity, this was not consistent across functional groups and aggregate abundances within each functional group were rarely stabilized. This shows functional redundancy and response diversity do not always operate in concert. Hence, despite exotic species becoming increasingly dominant in human-modified systems, they cannot replace the functional composition of native species. © 2017 The Author(s).

Convergent close coupling versus the generalized Sturmian function approach: Wave-function analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambrosio, M.; Mitnik, D. M.; Gasaneo, G.; Randazzo, J. M.; Kadyrov, A. S.; Fursa, D. V.; Bray, I.

2015-11-01

We compare the physical information contained in the Temkin-Poet (TP) scattering wave function representing electron-impact ionization of hydrogen, calculated by the convergent close-coupling (CCC) and generalized Sturmian function (GSF) methodologies. The idea is to show that the ionization cross section can be extracted from the wave functions themselves. Using two different procedures based on hyperspherical Sturmian functions we show that the transition amplitudes contained in both GSF and CCC scattering functions lead to similar single-differential cross sections. The single-continuum channels were also a subject of the present studies, and we show that the elastic and excitation amplitudes are essentially the same as well.

Sex Differences in the Brain.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimura, Doreen

1992-01-01

Explores the neural and hormonal basis of human intellectual function that gives rise to sex differences in the brain. Discusses behavioral, neurological, endocrinological studies, and studies of the effects of hormones on brain functioning that show a relationship between cognitive variations and sex. (MCO)

Psychological and functional effect of different primary treatments for prostate cancer: A comparative prospective analysis.

PubMed

Sciarra, Alessandro; Gentilucci, Alessandro; Salciccia, Stefano; Von Heland, Magnus; Ricciuti, Giam Piero; Marzio, Vittorio; Pierella, Federico; Musio, Daniela; Tombolini, Vincenzo; Frantellizzi, Viviana; Pasquini, Massimo; Maraone, Annalisa; Guandalini, Alessio; Maggi, Martina

2018-04-26

The aim of the study was to comparatively evaluate the psychological and functional effect of different primary treatments in patients with prostate cancer. We conducted a single-center prospective non randomized study in a real-life setting using functional and psychological questionnaires in prostate cancer cases submitted to radical prostatectomy, external radiotherapy, or active surveillance. Totally, 220 cases were evaluated at baseline and during the follow-up at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month interval after therapy. Patients self-completed questionnaires on urinary symptoms and incontinence, erectile and bowel function, psychological distress (PD), anxiety, and depression. Several significant differences among the three groups of treatment were found regarding the total score of the functional questionnaires. Regarding PD, cases submitted to radical prostatectomy showed stable scores during all the 12 months of follow-up whereas cases submitted to radiotherapy showed a rapid significant worsening of scores at 1-month interval and persistent also at 6- and 12-month interval. Cases submitted to active surveillance showed a slight and slow worsening of scores only at 12-month interval. PD and depression resulted to be more associated with urinary symptoms than sexual function worsening whereas anxiety resulted to be associated either with urinary symptoms or sexual function worsening. The results of our comparative and prospective analysis could be used to better inform treatment decision-making. Patients and their teams might wish to know how functional and psychological aspects may differently be influenced by treatment choice. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Functional Classification of Brain Damage-Related Vision Loss

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colenbrander, August

2009-01-01

This article provides a terminological framework to show the relationships among different types of visual deficits. It distinguishes between visual functions, which describe how the eye and the lower visual system function, and functional vision, which describes how a person functions. When visual functions are disturbed, the term "visual…

Functional Connectivity During Exposure to Favorite-Food, Stress, and Neutral-Relaxing Imagery Differs Between Smokers and Nonsmokers.

PubMed

Garrison, Kathleen A; Sinha, Rajita; Lacadie, Cheryl M; Scheinost, Dustin; Jastreboff, Ania M; Constable, R Todd; Potenza, Marc N

2016-09-01

Tobacco-use disorder is a complex condition involving multiple brain networks and presenting with multiple behavioral correlates including changes in diet and stress. In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of neural responses to favorite-food, stress, and neutral-relaxing imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers demonstrated blunted corticostriatal-limbic responses to favorite-food cues. Based on other recent reports of alterations in functional brain networks in smokers, the current study examined functional connectivity during exposure to favorite-food, stress, and neutral-relaxing imagery in smokers and nonsmokers, using the same dataset. The intrinsic connectivity distribution was measured to identify brain regions that differed in degree of functional connectivity between groups during each imagery condition. Resulting clusters were evaluated for seed-to-voxel connectivity to identify the specific connections that differed between groups during each imagery condition. During exposure to favorite-food imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers showed lower connectivity in the supramarginal gyrus, and differences in connectivity between the supramarginal gyrus and the corticostriatal-limbic system. During exposure to neutral-relaxing imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers showed greater connectivity in the precuneus, and greater connectivity between the precuneus and the posterior insula and rolandic operculum. During exposure to stress imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers showed lower connectivity in the cerebellum. These findings provide data-driven insights into smoking-related alterations in brain functional connectivity patterns related to appetitive, relaxing, and stressful states. This study uses a data-driven approach to demonstrate that smokers and nonsmokers show differential patterns of functional connectivity during guided imagery related to personalized favorite-food, stress, and neutral-relaxing cues, in brain regions implicated in attention, reward-related, emotional, and motivational processes. For smokers, these differences in connectivity may impact appetite, stress, and relaxation, and may interfere with smoking cessation. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Functional Connectivity During Exposure to Favorite-Food, Stress, and Neutral-Relaxing Imagery Differs Between Smokers and Nonsmokers

PubMed Central

Sinha, Rajita; Lacadie, Cheryl M.; Scheinost, Dustin; Jastreboff, Ania M.; Constable, R. Todd; Potenza, Marc N.

2016-01-01

Introduction: Tobacco-use disorder is a complex condition involving multiple brain networks and presenting with multiple behavioral correlates including changes in diet and stress. In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of neural responses to favorite-food, stress, and neutral-relaxing imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers demonstrated blunted corticostriatal-limbic responses to favorite-food cues. Based on other recent reports of alterations in functional brain networks in smokers, the current study examined functional connectivity during exposure to favorite-food, stress, and neutral-relaxing imagery in smokers and nonsmokers, using the same dataset. Methods: The intrinsic connectivity distribution was measured to identify brain regions that differed in degree of functional connectivity between groups during each imagery condition. Resulting clusters were evaluated for seed-to-voxel connectivity to identify the specific connections that differed between groups during each imagery condition. Results: During exposure to favorite-food imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers showed lower connectivity in the supramarginal gyrus, and differences in connectivity between the supramarginal gyrus and the corticostriatal-limbic system. During exposure to neutral-relaxing imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers showed greater connectivity in the precuneus, and greater connectivity between the precuneus and the posterior insula and rolandic operculum. During exposure to stress imagery, smokers versus nonsmokers showed lower connectivity in the cerebellum. Conclusions: These findings provide data-driven insights into smoking-related alterations in brain functional connectivity patterns related to appetitive, relaxing, and stressful states. Implications: This study uses a data-driven approach to demonstrate that smokers and nonsmokers show differential patterns of functional connectivity during guided imagery related to personalized favorite-food, stress, and neutral-relaxing cues, in brain regions implicated in attention, reward-related, emotional, and motivational processes. For smokers, these differences in connectivity may impact appetite, stress, and relaxation, and may interfere with smoking cessation. PMID:26995796

Performance on an episodic encoding task yields further insight into functional brain development.

PubMed

McAuley, Tara; Brahmbhatt, Shefali; Barch, Deanna M

2007-01-15

To further characterize changes in functional brain development that are associated with the emergence of cognitive control, participants 14 to 28 years of age were scanned while performing an episodic encoding task with a levels-of-processing manipulation. Using data from the 12 youngest and oldest participants (endpoint groups), 18 regions were identified that showed group differences in task-related activity as a function of processing depth. One region, located in left inferior frontal gyrus, showed enhanced activity in deep relative to shallow encoding that was larger in magnitude for the older group. Seventeen regions showed enhanced activity in shallow relative to deep encoding that was larger in magnitude for the youngest group. These regions were distributed across a broad network that included both cortical and subcortical areas. Regression analyses using the entire sample showed that age made a significant contribution to the difference in beta weights between deep and shallow encoding for 17 of the 18 identified regions in the direction predicted by the endpoint analysis. We conclude that the patterns of brain activation associated with deep and shallow encoding differ between adolescents and young adults in a manner that is consistent with the interactive specialization account of functional brain development.

Comparison of different final impression techniques for management of resorbed mandibular ridge: a case report.

PubMed

Yadav, Bhupender; Jayna, Manisha; Yadav, Harish; Suri, Shrey; Phogat, Shefali; Madan, Reshu

2014-01-01

The history of complete denture impression procedures has been influenced largely by the development of impression materials from which new techniques and ideas arose. The purpose of this study was to compare the retention of complete dentures made by using different impression techniques like conventional, admixed, all green, and functional techniques. The results showed that there was significant difference in retention between the six techniques where functional technique showed the highest mean value of retention followed by elastomeric, all green, and admixed, while cocktail and green stick compound showed the lowest mean value. However, on clinical examination, the retention produced by the six techniques was satisfactory.

Comparison of Different Final Impression Techniques for Management of Resorbed Mandibular Ridge: A Case Report

PubMed Central

Yadav, Bhupender; Jayna, Manisha; Yadav, Harish; Suri, Shrey; Phogat, Shefali; Madan, Reshu

2014-01-01

The history of complete denture impression procedures has been influenced largely by the development of impression materials from which new techniques and ideas arose. The purpose of this study was to compare the retention of complete dentures made by using different impression techniques like conventional, admixed, all green, and functional techniques. The results showed that there was significant difference in retention between the six techniques where functional technique showed the highest mean value of retention followed by elastomeric, all green, and admixed, while cocktail and green stick compound showed the lowest mean value. However, on clinical examination, the retention produced by the six techniques was satisfactory. PMID:25180105

Reorganization of brain function after a short-term behavioral intervention for stuttering.

PubMed

Lu, Chunming; Zheng, Lifen; Long, Yuhang; Yan, Qian; Ding, Guosheng; Liu, Li; Peng, Danling; Howell, Peter

2017-05-01

This study investigated changes in brain function that occurred over a 7-day behavioral intervention for adults who stutter (AWS). Thirteen AWS received the intervention (AWS+), and 13 AWS did not receive the intervention (AWS-). There were 13 fluent controls (FC-). All participants were scanned before and after the intervention. Whole-brain analysis pre-intervention showed significant differences in task-related brain activation between AWS and FC- in the right inferior frontal cortex (IFC) and left middle temporal cortex, but there were no differences between the two AWS groups. Across the 7-day period of the intervention, AWS+ alone showed a significant increase of brain activation in the left ventral IFC/insula. There were no changes in brain function for the other two groups. Further analysis revealed that the change did not correlate with resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) that AWS showed in the cerebellum (Lu et al., 2012). However, both changes in task-related brain function and RSFC correlated with changes in speech fluency level. Together, these findings suggest that functional reorganization in a brain region close to the left IFC that shows anomalous function in AWS, occurs after a short-term behavioral intervention for stuttering. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Functional and genetic analysis of haplotypic sequence variation at the nicastrin genomic locus

PubMed Central

Hamilton, Gillian; Killick, Richard; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Amouyel, Philippe; Carrasquillo, Minerva M.; Pankratz, V. Shane; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Dickson, Dennis W.; Petersen, Ronald C.; Younkin, Steven G.; Powell, John F.; Wade-Martins, Richard

2013-01-01

Nicastrin (NCSTN) is a component of the γ-secretase complex and therefore potentially a candidate risk gene for Alzheimer's disease. Here, we have developed a novel functional genomics methodology to express common locus haplotypes to assess functional differences. DNA recombination was used to engineer 5 bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) to each express a different haplotype of the NCSTN locus. Each NCSTN-BAC was delivered to knockout nicastrin (Ncstn−/−) cells and clonal NCSTN-BAC+/Ncstn−/− cell lines were created for functional analyses. We showed that all NCSTN-BAC haplotypes expressed nicastrin protein and rescued γ-secretase activity and amyloid beta (Aβ) production in NCSTN-BAC+/Ncstn−/− lines. We then showed that genetic variation at the NCSTN locus affected alternative splicing in human postmortem brain tissue. However, there was no robust functional difference between clonal cell lines rescued by each of the 5 different haplotypes. Finally, there was no statistically significant association of NCSTN with disease risk in the 4 cohorts. We therefore conclude that it is unlikely that common variation at the NCSTN locus is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. PMID:22405046

Bacterial structures and ecosystem functions in glaciated floodplains: contemporary states and potential future shifts

PubMed Central

Freimann, Remo; Bürgmann, Helmut; Findlay, Stuart EG; Robinson, Christopher T

2013-01-01

Glaciated alpine floodplains are responding quickly to climate change through shrinking ice masses. Given the expected future changes in their physicochemical environment, we anticipated variable shifts in structure and ecosystem functioning of hyporheic microbial communities in proglacial alpine streams, depending on present community characteristics and landscape structures. We examined microbial structure and functioning during different hydrologic periods in glacial (kryal) streams and, as contrasting systems, groundwater-fed (krenal) streams. Three catchments were chosen to cover an array of landscape features, including interconnected lakes, differences in local geology and degree of deglaciation. Community structure was assessed by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis and microbial function by potential enzyme activities. We found each catchment to contain a distinct bacterial community structure and different degrees of separation in structure and functioning that were linked to the physicochemical properties of the waters within each catchment. Bacterial communities showed high functional plasticity, although achieved by different strategies in each system. Typical kryal communities showed a strong linkage of structure and function that indicated a major prevalence of specialists, whereas krenal sediments were dominated by generalists. With the rapid retreat of glaciers and therefore altered ecohydrological characteristics, lotic microbial structure and functioning are likely to change substantially in proglacial floodplains in the future. The trajectory of these changes will vary depending on contemporary bacterial community characteristics and landscape structures that ultimately determine the sustainability of ecosystem functioning. PMID:23842653

Bacterial structures and ecosystem functions in glaciated floodplains: contemporary states and potential future shifts.

PubMed

Freimann, Remo; Bürgmann, Helmut; Findlay, Stuart E G; Robinson, Christopher T

2013-12-01

Glaciated alpine floodplains are responding quickly to climate change through shrinking ice masses. Given the expected future changes in their physicochemical environment, we anticipated variable shifts in structure and ecosystem functioning of hyporheic microbial communities in proglacial alpine streams, depending on present community characteristics and landscape structures. We examined microbial structure and functioning during different hydrologic periods in glacial (kryal) streams and, as contrasting systems, groundwater-fed (krenal) streams. Three catchments were chosen to cover an array of landscape features, including interconnected lakes, differences in local geology and degree of deglaciation. Community structure was assessed by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis and microbial function by potential enzyme activities. We found each catchment to contain a distinct bacterial community structure and different degrees of separation in structure and functioning that were linked to the physicochemical properties of the waters within each catchment. Bacterial communities showed high functional plasticity, although achieved by different strategies in each system. Typical kryal communities showed a strong linkage of structure and function that indicated a major prevalence of specialists, whereas krenal sediments were dominated by generalists. With the rapid retreat of glaciers and therefore altered ecohydrological characteristics, lotic microbial structure and functioning are likely to change substantially in proglacial floodplains in the future. The trajectory of these changes will vary depending on contemporary bacterial community characteristics and landscape structures that ultimately determine the sustainability of ecosystem functioning.

Reducing measurement errors during functional capacity tests in elders.

PubMed

da Silva, Mariane Eichendorf; Orssatto, Lucas Bet da Rosa; Bezerra, Ewertton de Souza; Silva, Diego Augusto Santos; Moura, Bruno Monteiro de; Diefenthaeler, Fernando; Freitas, Cíntia de la Rocha

2018-06-01

Accuracy is essential to the validity of functional capacity measurements. To evaluate the error of measurement of functional capacity tests for elders and suggest the use of the technical error of measurement and credibility coefficient. Twenty elders (65.8 ± 4.5 years) completed six functional capacity tests that were simultaneously filmed and timed by four evaluators by means of a chronometer. A fifth evaluator timed the tests by analyzing the videos (reference data). The means of most evaluators for most tests were different from the reference (p < 0.05), except for two evaluators for two different tests. There were different technical error of measurement between tests and evaluators. The Bland-Altman test showed difference in the concordance of the results between methods. Short duration tests showed higher technical error of measurement than longer tests. In summary, tests timed by a chronometer underestimate the real results of the functional capacity. Difference between evaluators' reaction time and perception to determine the start and the end of the tests would justify the errors of measurement. Calculation of the technical error of measurement or the use of the camera can increase data validity.

Measurement of the local muscular metabolism by time-domain near infrared spectroscopy during knee flex-extension induced by functional electrical stimulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contini, D.; Spinelli, L.; Torricelli, A.; Ferrante, S.; Pedrocchi, A.; Molteni, F.; Ferrigno, G.; Cubeddu, R.

2009-02-01

We present a preliminary study that combines functional electrical stimulation and time-domain near infrared spectroscopy for a quantitative measurement of the local muscular metabolism during rehabilitation of post-acute stroke patients. Seven healthy subjects and nine post-acute stroke patients underwent a protocol of knee flex-extension of the quadriceps induced by functional electrical stimulation. During the protocol time-domain near infrared spectroscopy measurement were performed on both left and right muscle. Hemodynamic parameters (concentration of oxy- and deoxy-genated hemoglobin) during baseline did not show any significant differences between healthy subject and patients, while functional performances (knee angle amplitude) were distinctly different. Nevertheless, even if their clinical histories were noticeably different, there was no differentiation among functional performances of patients. On the basis of the hemodynamic parameters measured during the recovery phase, instead, it was possible to identify two classes of patients showing a metabolic trend similar or very different to the one obtained by healthy subjects. The presented results suggest that the combination of functional and metabolic information can give an additional tool to the clinicians in the evaluation of the rehabilitation in post-acute stroke patients.

Different Plasticity Patterns of Language Function in Children With Perinatal and Childhood Stroke

PubMed Central

Tomberg, Tiiu; Kepler, Joosep; Laugesaar, Rael; Kaldoja, Mari-Liis; Kepler, Kalle; Kolk, Anneli

2014-01-01

Plasticity of language function after brain damage can depend on maturation of the brain. Children with left-hemisphere perinatal (n = 7) or childhood stroke (n = 5) and 12 controls were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The verb generation and the sentence comprehension tasks were employed to activate the expressive and receptive language areas, respectively. Weighted laterality indices were calculated and correlated with results assessed by neuropsychological test battery. Compared to controls, children with childhood stroke showed significantly lower mean scores for the expressive (P < .05) and receptive (P = .05) language tests. On functional magnetic resonance imaging they showed left-side cortical activation, as did controls. Perinatal stroke patients showed atypical right-side or bilateral language lateralization during both tasks. Negative correlation for stroke patients was found between scores for expressive language tests and laterality index during the verb generation task. (Re)organization of language function differs in children with perinatal and childhood stroke and correlates with neurocognitive performance. PMID:23748202

[Functional diversity characteristics of canopy tree species of Jianfengling tropical montane rainforest on Hainan Island, China.

PubMed

Xu, Ge Xi; Shi, Zuo Min; Tang, Jing Chao; Liu, Shun; Ma, Fan Qiang; Xu, Han; Liu, Shi Rong; Li, Yi de

2016-11-18

Based on three 1-hm 2 plots of Jianfengling tropical montane rainforest on Hainan Island, 11 commom used functional traits of canopy trees were measured. After combining with topographical factors and trees census data of these three plots, we compared the impacts of weighted species abundance on two functional dispersion indices, mean pairwise distance (MPD) and mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD), by using single- and multi-dimensional traits, respectively. The relationship between functional richness of the forest canopies and species abundance was analyzed. We used a null model approach to explore the variations in standardized size effects of MPD and MNTD, which were weighted by species abundance and eliminated the influences of species richness diffe-rences among communities, and assessed functional diversity patterns of the forest canopies and their responses to local habitat heterogeneity at community's level. The results showed that variation in MPD was greatly dependent on the dimensionalities of functional traits as well as species abundance. The correlations between weighted and non-weighted MPD based on different dimensional traits were relatively weak (R=0.359-0.628). On the contrary, functional traits and species abundance had relatively weak effects on MNTD, which brought stronger correlations between weighted and non-weighted MNTD based on different dimensional traits (R=0.746-0.820). Functional dispersion of the forest canopies were generally overestimated when using non-weighted MPD and MNTD. Functional richness of the forest canopies showed an exponential relationship with species abundance (F=128.20; R 2 =0.632; AIC=97.72; P＜0.001), which might exist a species abundance threshold value. Patterns of functional diversity of the forest canopies based on different dimensional functional traits and their habitat responses showed variations in some degree. Forest canopies in the valley usually had relatively stronger biological competition, and functional diversity was higher than expected functional diversity randomized by null model, which indicated dispersed distribution of functional traits among canopy tree species in this habitat. However, the functional diversity of the forest canopies tended to be close or lower than randomization in the other habitat types, which demonstrated random or clustered distribution of the functional traits among canopy tree species.

Microbial functional diversity plays an important role in the degradation of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) in soil.

PubMed

Dey, Samrat; Tribedi, Prosun

2018-03-01

Towards bioremediation of recalcitrant materials like synthetic polymer, soil has been recognized as a traditional site for disposal and subsequent degradation as some microorganisms in soil can degrade the polymer in a non-toxic, cost-effective, and environment friendly way. Microbial functional diversity is a constituent of biodiversity that includes wide range of metabolic activities that can influence numerous aspects of ecosystem functioning like ecosystem stability, nutrient availability, ecosystem dynamics, etc. Thus, in the current study, we assumed that microbial functional diversity could play an important role in polymer degradation in soil. To verify this hypothesis, we isolated soil from five different sites of landfill and examined several microbiological parameters wherein we observed a significant variation in heterotrophic microbial count as well as microbial activities among the soil microcosms tested. Multivariate analysis (principle component analysis) based on the carbon sources utilization pattern revealed that soil microcosms showed different metabolic patterns suggesting the variable distribution of microorganisms among the soil microcosms tested. Since microbial functional diversity depends on both microbial richness and evenness, Shannon diversity index was determined to measure microbial richness and Gini coefficient was determined to measure microbial evenness. The tested soil microcosms exhibited variation in both microbial richness and evenness suggesting the considerable difference in microbial functional diversity among the tested microcosms. We then measured polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) degradation in soil microcosms after desired period of incubation of PHB in soil wherein we found that soil microcosms having higher functional diversity showed enhanced PHB degradation and soil microcosms having lower functional diversity showed reduced PHB degradation. We also noticed that all the tested soil microcosms showed similar pattern in both microbial functional diversity and PHB degradation suggesting a strong positive correlation ( r  = 0.95) between microbial functional diversity and PHB degradation. Thus, the results demonstrate that microbial functional diversity plays an important role in PHB degradation in soil by exhibiting versatile microbial metabolic potentials that lead to the enhanced degradation of PHB.

A review of the different techniques for solid surface acid-base characterization.

PubMed

Sun, Chenhang; Berg, John C

2003-09-18

In this work, various techniques for solid surface acid-base (AB) characterization are reviewed. Different techniques employ different scales to rank acid-base properties. Based on the results from literature and the authors' own investigations for mineral oxides, these scales are compared. The comparison shows that Isoelectric Point (IEP), the most commonly used AB scale, is not a description of the absolute basicity or acidity of a surface, but a description of their relative strength. That is, a high IEP surface shows more basic functionality comparing with its acidic functionality, whereas a low IEP surface shows less basic functionality comparing with its acidic functionality. The choice of technique and scale for AB characterization depends on the specific application. For the cases in which the overall AB property is of interest, IEP (by electrokinetic titration) and H(0,max) (by indicator dye adsorption) are appropriate. For the cases in which the absolute AB property is of interest such as in the study of adhesion, it is more pertinent to use chemical shift (by XPS) and the heat of adsorption of probe gases (by calorimetry or IGC).

Relationship between Speech Production and Perception in People Who Stutter.

PubMed

Lu, Chunming; Long, Yuhang; Zheng, Lifen; Shi, Guang; Liu, Li; Ding, Guosheng; Howell, Peter

2016-01-01

Speech production difficulties are apparent in people who stutter (PWS). PWS also have difficulties in speech perception compared to controls. It is unclear whether the speech perception difficulties in PWS are independent of, or related to, their speech production difficulties. To investigate this issue, functional MRI data were collected on 13 PWS and 13 controls whilst the participants performed a speech production task and a speech perception task. PWS performed poorer than controls in the perception task and the poorer performance was associated with a functional activity difference in the left anterior insula (part of the speech motor area) compared to controls. PWS also showed a functional activity difference in this and the surrounding area [left inferior frontal cortex (IFC)/anterior insula] in the production task compared to controls. Conjunction analysis showed that the functional activity differences between PWS and controls in the left IFC/anterior insula coincided across the perception and production tasks. Furthermore, Granger Causality Analysis on the resting-state fMRI data of the participants showed that the causal connection from the left IFC/anterior insula to an area in the left primary auditory cortex (Heschl's gyrus) differed significantly between PWS and controls. The strength of this connection correlated significantly with performance in the perception task. These results suggest that speech perception difficulties in PWS are associated with anomalous functional activity in the speech motor area, and the altered functional connectivity from this area to the auditory area plays a role in the speech perception difficulties of PWS.

The Importance of Dispersal for Bacterial Community Composition and Functioning

PubMed Central

Lindström, Eva S.; Östman, Örjan

2011-01-01

We conducted a metacommunity experiment to investigate the role of dispersal for bacterial community composition (BCC) and function of freshwater bacteria. Bacteria were dispersed from a common source pool into three different lake communities in their natural lake water. The experiment was conducted in dialysis bags to enable a decoupling between a change in the local environment and dispersal. BCC was determined by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (tRFLP) of the 16S rRNA gene. We show that the greatest changes in BCC occurred between 10% and 43% of dispersal of standing stock per day. Functioning, measured as growth rate, was also affected by dispersal in all three communities but the qualitative pattern differed between communities, sometimes showing a hump-shaped relationship to dispersal and sometimes decreasing with increasing dispersal. In all waters, functioning was related to BCC. Our results show that dispersal does affect BCC and functioning but that high dispersal rates are needed. Further, the effect of dispersal on BCC and function seem to depend on the quality of the habitat to which bacteria disperse into. PMID:21998714

Orthogonality catastrophe and fractional exclusion statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ares, Filiberto; Gupta, Kumar S.; de Queiroz, Amilcar R.

2018-02-01

We show that the N -particle Sutherland model with inverse-square and harmonic interactions exhibits orthogonality catastrophe. For a fixed value of the harmonic coupling, the overlap of the N -body ground state wave functions with two different values of the inverse-square interaction term goes to zero in the thermodynamic limit. When the two values of the inverse-square coupling differ by an infinitesimal amount, the wave function overlap shows an exponential suppression. This is qualitatively different from the usual power law suppression observed in the Anderson's orthogonality catastrophe. We also obtain an analytic expression for the wave function overlaps for an arbitrary set of couplings, whose properties are analyzed numerically. The quasiparticles constituting the ground state wave functions of the Sutherland model are known to obey fractional exclusion statistics. Our analysis indicates that the orthogonality catastrophe may be valid in systems with more general kinds of statistics than just the fermionic type.

Orthogonality catastrophe and fractional exclusion statistics.

PubMed

Ares, Filiberto; Gupta, Kumar S; de Queiroz, Amilcar R

2018-02-01

We show that the N-particle Sutherland model with inverse-square and harmonic interactions exhibits orthogonality catastrophe. For a fixed value of the harmonic coupling, the overlap of the N-body ground state wave functions with two different values of the inverse-square interaction term goes to zero in the thermodynamic limit. When the two values of the inverse-square coupling differ by an infinitesimal amount, the wave function overlap shows an exponential suppression. This is qualitatively different from the usual power law suppression observed in the Anderson's orthogonality catastrophe. We also obtain an analytic expression for the wave function overlaps for an arbitrary set of couplings, whose properties are analyzed numerically. The quasiparticles constituting the ground state wave functions of the Sutherland model are known to obey fractional exclusion statistics. Our analysis indicates that the orthogonality catastrophe may be valid in systems with more general kinds of statistics than just the fermionic type.

Differences between quadratic equations and functions: Indonesian pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, T. A.; Pramudiani, P.; Purnomo, Y. W.

2018-01-01

Difference between quadratic equation and quadratic function as perceived by Indonesian pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (N = 55) who enrolled at one private university in Jakarta City was investigated. Analysis of participants’ written responses and interviews were conducted consecutively. Participants’ written responses highlighted differences between quadratic equation and function by referring to their general terms, main characteristics, processes, and geometrical aspects. However, they showed several obstacles in describing the differences such as inappropriate constraints and improper interpretations. Implications of the study are discussed.

Flexibility in the structure of spiral flowers and its underlying mechanisms.

PubMed

Wang, Peipei; Liao, Hong; Zhang, Wengen; Yu, Xianxian; Zhang, Rui; Shan, Hongyan; Duan, Xiaoshan; Yao, Xu; Kong, Hongzhi

2015-12-07

Spiral flowers usually bear a variable number of organs, suggestive of the flexibility in structure. The mechanisms underlying the flexibility, however, remain unclear. Here we show that in Nigella damascena, a species with spiral flowers, different types of floral organs show different ranges of variation in number. We also show that the total number of organs per flower is largely dependent on the initial size of the floral meristem, whereas the respective numbers of different types of floral organs are determined by the functional domains of corresponding genetic programmes. By conducting extensive expression and functional studies, we further elucidate the genetic programmes that specify the identities of different types of floral organs. Notably, the AGL6-lineage member NdAGL6, rather than the AP1-lineage members NdFL1/2, is an A-function gene, whereas petaloidy of sepals is not controlled by AP3- or PI-lineage members. Moreover, owing to the formation of a regulatory network, some floral organ identity genes also regulate the boundaries between different types of floral organs. On the basis of these results, we propose that the floral organ identity determination programme is highly dynamic and shows considerable flexibility. Transitions from spiral to whorled flowers, therefore, may be explained by evolution of the mechanisms that reduce the flexibility.

A predator-prey model with a holling type I functional response including a predator mutual interference

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seo, G.; DeAngelis, D.L.

2011-01-01

The most widely used functional response in describing predator-prey relationships is the Holling type II functional response, where per capita predation is a smooth, increasing, and saturating function of prey density. Beddington and DeAngelis modified the Holling type II response to include interference of predators that increases with predator density. Here we introduce a predator-interference term into a Holling type I functional response. We explain the ecological rationale for the response and note that the phase plane configuration of the predator and prey isoclines differs greatly from that of the Beddington-DeAngelis response; for example, in having three possible interior equilibria rather than one. In fact, this new functional response seems to be quite unique. We used analytical and numerical methods to show that the resulting system shows a much richer dynamical behavior than the Beddington-DeAngelis response, or other typically used functional responses. For example, cyclic-fold, saddle-fold, homoclinic saddle connection, and multiple crossing bifurcations can all occur. We then use a smooth approximation to the Holling type I functional response with predator mutual interference to show that these dynamical properties do not result from the lack of smoothness, but rather from subtle differences in the functional responses. ?? 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Functional Gene Diversity and Metabolic Potential of the Microbial Community in an Estuary-Shelf Environment

PubMed Central

Wang, Yu; Zhang, Rui; He, Zhili; Van Nostrand, Joy D.; Zheng, Qiang; Zhou, Jizhong; Jiao, Nianzhi

2017-01-01

Microbes play crucial roles in various biogeochemical processes in the ocean, including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling. Functional gene diversity and the structure of the microbial community determines its metabolic potential and therefore its ecological function in the marine ecosystem. However, little is known about the functional gene composition and metabolic potential of bacterioplankton in estuary areas. The East China Sea (ECS) is a dynamic marginal ecosystem in the western Pacific Ocean that is mainly affected by input from the Changjiang River and the Kuroshio Current. Here, using a high-throughput functional gene microarray (GeoChip), we analyzed the functional gene diversity, composition, structure, and metabolic potential of microbial assemblages in different ECS water masses. Four water masses determined by temperature and salinity relationship showed different patterns of functional gene diversity and composition. Generally, functional gene diversity [Shannon–Weaner’s H and reciprocal of Simpson’s 1/(1-D)] in the surface water masses was higher than that in the bottom water masses. The different presence and proportion of functional genes involved in C, N, and P cycling among the bacteria of the different water masses showed different metabolic preferences of the microbial populations in the ECS. Genes involved in starch metabolism (amyA and nplT) showed higher proportion in microbial communities of the surface water masses than of the bottom water masses. In contrast, a higher proportion of genes involved in chitin degradation was observed in microorganisms of the bottom water masses. Moreover, we found a higher proportion of nitrogen fixation (nifH), transformation of hydroxylamine to nitrite (hao) and ammonification (gdh) genes in the microbial communities of the bottom water masses compared with those of the surface water masses. The spatial variation of microbial functional genes was significantly correlated with salinity, temperature, and chlorophyll based on canonical correspondence analysis, suggesting a significant influence of hydrologic conditions on water microbial communities. Our data provide new insights into better understanding of the functional potential of microbial communities in the complex estuarine-coastal environmental gradient of the ECS. PMID:28680420

Modeling a Cascade of Effects: The Role of Speed and Executive Functioning in Preterm/Full-Term Differences in Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Susan A.; Feldman, Judith F.; Jankowski, Jeffery J.

2011-01-01

This study identified deficits in executive functioning in pre-adolescent preterms and modeled their role, along with processing speed, in explaining preterm/full-term differences in reading and mathematics. Preterms (less than 1750 g) showed deficits at 11 years on a battery of tasks tapping the three basic executive functions identified by…

Fabrication of SWCNT based flexible chemiresistor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rajput, Mayank, E-mail: mnk.rajput1@gmail.com; Das, S.; Kaur, Rajvinder

2016-04-13

Carboxyl (-COOH) functionalized SWCNT chemiresistors have been realized on Kapton substrate patterned with Au microelectrodes by the drop casting of functionalized SWCNT dispersion in DI water. I-V measurements on fabricated chemiresistor showed ohmic behavior at different temperatures (25°C-120°C). The effect of bending on flexible functionalized SWCNT chemiresistor for different diameter has been measured. It has been found that bending at different radius of curvature doesn’t change the ohmic behavior of fabricated chemiresistor. Achieved results are promising for cheap flexible electronic devices.

Predictors of physical performance and functional ability in people 50+ with and without fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Jones, C Jessie; Rutledge, Dana N; Aquino, Jordan

2010-07-01

The purposes of this study were to determine whether people with and without fibromyalgia (FM) age 50 yr and above showed differences in physical performance and perceived functional ability and to determine whether age, gender, depression, and physical activity level altered the impact of FM status on these factors. Dependent variables included perceived function and 6 performance measures (multidimensional balance, aerobic endurance, overall functional mobility, lower body strength, and gait velocity-normal or fast). Independent (predictor) variables were FM status, age, gender, depression, and physical activity level. Results indicated significant differences between adults with and without FM on all physical-performance measures and perceived function. Linear-regression models showed that the contribution of significant predictors was in expected directions. All regression models were significant, accounting for 16-65% of variance in the dependent variables.

Comparison of global optimization approaches for robust calibration of hydrologic model parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, I. W.

2015-12-01

Robustness of the calibrated parameters of hydrologic models is necessary to provide a reliable prediction of future performance of watershed behavior under varying climate conditions. This study investigated calibration performances according to the length of calibration period, objective functions, hydrologic model structures and optimization methods. To do this, the combination of three global optimization methods (i.e. SCE-UA, Micro-GA, and DREAM) and four hydrologic models (i.e. SAC-SMA, GR4J, HBV, and PRMS) was tested with different calibration periods and objective functions. Our results showed that three global optimization methods provided close calibration performances under different calibration periods, objective functions, and hydrologic models. However, using the agreement of index, normalized root mean square error, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency as the objective function showed better performance than using correlation coefficient and percent bias. Calibration performances according to different calibration periods from one year to seven years were hard to generalize because four hydrologic models have different levels of complexity and different years have different information content of hydrological observation. Acknowledgements This research was supported by a grant (14AWMP-B082564-01) from Advanced Water Management Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

The Development of Object Function and Manipulation Knowledge: Evidence from a Semantic Priming Study

PubMed Central

Collette, Cynthia; Bonnotte, Isabelle; Jacquemont, Charlotte; Kalénine, Solène; Bartolo, Angela

2016-01-01

Object semantics include object function and manipulation knowledge. Function knowledge refers to the goal attainable by using an object (e.g., the function of a key is to open or close a door) while manipulation knowledge refers to gestures one has to execute to use an object appropriately (e.g., a key is held between the thumb and the index, inserted into the door lock and then turned). To date, several studies have assessed function and manipulation knowledge in brain lesion patients as well as in healthy adult populations. In patients with left brain damage, a double dissociation between these two types of knowledge has been reported; on the other hand, behavioral studies in healthy adults show that function knowledge is processed faster than manipulation knowledge. Empirical evidence has shown that object interaction in children differs from that in adults, suggesting that the access to function and manipulation knowledge in children might also differ. To investigate the development of object function and manipulation knowledge, 51 typically developing 8-9-10 year-old children and 17 healthy young adults were tested on a naming task associated with a semantic priming paradigm (190-ms SOA; prime duration: 90 ms) in which a series of line drawings of manipulable objects were used. Target objects could be preceded by three priming contexts: related (e.g., knife-scissors for function; key-screwdriver for manipulation), unrelated but visually similar (e.g., glasses-scissors; baseball bat-screwdriver), and purely unrelated (e.g., die-scissors; tissue-screwdriver). Results showed a different developmental pattern of function and manipulation priming effects. Function priming effects were not present in children and emerged only in adults, with faster naming responses for targets preceded by objects sharing the same function. In contrast, manipulation priming effects were already present in 8-year-olds with faster naming responses for targets preceded by objects sharing the same manipulation and these decreased linearly between 8 and 10 years of age, 10-year-olds not differing from adults. Overall, results show that the access to object function and manipulation knowledge changes during development by favoring manipulation knowledge in childhood and function knowledge in adulthood. PMID:27602004

Population dynamics and mutualism: Functional responses of benefits and costs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holland, J. Nathaniel; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Bronstein, Judith L.

2002-01-01

We develop an approach for studying population dynamics resulting from mutualism by employing functional responses based on density‐dependent benefits and costs. These functional responses express how the population growth rate of a mutualist is modified by the density of its partner. We present several possible dependencies of gross benefits and costs, and hence net effects, to a mutualist as functions of the density of its partner. Net effects to mutualists are likely a monotonically saturating or unimodal function of the density of their partner. We show that fundamental differences in the growth, limitation, and dynamics of a population can occur when net effects to that population change linearly, unimodally, or in a saturating fashion. We use the mutualism between senita cactus and its pollinating seed‐eating moth as an example to show the influence of different benefit and cost functional responses on population dynamics and stability of mutualisms. We investigated two mechanisms that may alter this mutualism's functional responses: distribution of eggs among flowers and fruit abortion. Differences in how benefits and costs vary with density can alter the stability of this mutualism. In particular, fruit abortion may allow for a stable equilibrium where none could otherwise exist.

Differential item functioning in the Cambridge Mental Disorders in the Elderly (CAMDEX) Depression Scale across middle age and late life.

PubMed

Estabrook, Ryne; Sadler, Michael E; McGue, Matt

2015-12-01

A long-standing and critical problem in the study of aging and depression is the comparability of measurement across age groups. While psychological measures of depression typically show increased incidence of symptoms with increasing age, rates of depression diagnosis do not show the same age trend. This analysis presents tests of differential item functioning on the depression section of the CAMDEX interview schedule, using factor analysis-derived affective and somatic subscales (McGue & Christensen, 1997). Results for the affective subscale show significant differences in item functioning in the majority of the affective items as a function of age (items "Happy Life," "Lonely," "Nervous" "Worthless," and "Future": χ6(2) = [30.193, 255.971] across items, all p < .0001). Analyses for the somatic subscale show differential item functioning is limited to a single item relating to coping (χ6(2) = 180.754, p < .0001). These results indicate that differences in depression symptoms across age groups are not entirely consistent with a unidimensional depression trait, and that the measurement structure of depression varies over the life span. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Further Examination of the Immediate Impact of Television on Children's Executive Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lillard, Angeline S.; Drell, Marissa B.; Richey, Eve M.; Boguszewski, Katherine; Smith, Eric D.

2015-01-01

Three studies examined the short-term impact of television (TV) on children's executive function (EF). Study 1 (N = 160) showed that 4- and 6-year-olds' EF is impaired after watching 2 different fast and fantastical shows, relative to that of children who watched a slow, realistic show or played. In Study 2 (N = 60), 4-year-olds' EF was as…

Age distribution patterns of human gene families: divergent for Gene Ontology categories and concordant between different subcellular localizations.

PubMed

Liu, Gangbiao; Zou, Yangyun; Cheng, Qiqun; Zeng, Yanwu; Gu, Xun; Su, Zhixi

2014-04-01

The age distribution of gene duplication events within the human genome exhibits two waves of duplications along with an ancient component. However, because of functional constraint differences, genes in different functional categories might show dissimilar retention patterns after duplication. It is known that genes in some functional categories are highly duplicated in the early stage of vertebrate evolution. However, the correlations of the age distribution pattern of gene duplication between the different functional categories are still unknown. To investigate this issue, we developed a robust pipeline to date the gene duplication events in the human genome. We successfully estimated about three-quarters of the duplication events within the human genome, along with the age distribution pattern in each Gene Ontology (GO) slim category. We found that some GO slim categories show different distribution patterns when compared to the whole genome. Further hierarchical clustering of the GO slim functional categories enabled grouping into two main clusters. We found that human genes located in the duplicated copy number variant regions, whose duplicate genes have not been fixed in the human population, were mainly enriched in the groups with a high proportion of recently duplicated genes. Moreover, we used a phylogenetic tree-based method to date the age of duplications in three signaling-related gene superfamilies: transcription factors, protein kinases and G-protein coupled receptors. These superfamilies were expressed in different subcellular localizations. They showed a similar age distribution as the signaling-related GO slim categories. We also compared the differences between the age distributions of gene duplications in multiple subcellular localizations. We found that the distribution patterns of the major subcellular localizations were similar to that of the whole genome. This study revealed the whole picture of the evolution patterns of gene functional categories in the human genome.

The invasibility of marine algal assemblages: role of functional diversity and identity.

PubMed

Arenas, Francisco; Sánchez, Iñigo; Hawkins, Stephen J; Jenkins, Stuart R

2006-11-01

The emergence of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning debate in the last decade has renewed interest in understanding why some communities are more easily invaded than others and how the impact of invasion on recipient communities and ecosystems varies. To date most of the research on invasibility has focused on taxonomic diversity, i.e., species richness. However, functional diversity of the communities should be more relevant for the resistance of the community to invasions, as the extent of functional differences among the species in an assemblage is a major determinant of ecosystem processes. Although coastal marine habitats are among the most heavily invaded ecosystems, studies on community invasibility and vulnerability in these habitats are scarce. We carried out a manipulative field experiment in tide pools of the rocky intertidal to test the hypothesis that increasing functional richness reduces the susceptibility of macroalgal communities to invasion. We selected a priori four functional groups on the basis of previous knowledge of local species characteristics: encrusting, turf, subcanopy, and canopy species. Synthetic assemblages containing one, two, three, or four different functional groups of seaweeds were created, and invasion by native species was monitored over an eight-month period. Cover and resource availability in the assemblages with only one functional group showed different patterns in the use of space and light, confirming true functional differences among our groups. Experimental results showed that the identity of functional groups was more important than functional richness in determining the ability of macroalgal communities to resist invasion and that resistance to invasion was resource-mediated.

Functional foods: health claim-food product compatibility and the impact of health claim framing on consumer evaluation.

PubMed

van Kleef, Ellen; van Trijp, Hans C M; Luning, Pieternel

2005-06-01

Two studies are reported, which aim to strengthen the scientific underpinning of strategic decisions regarding functional food development, as to (1) which health benefits to claim, (2) with which product (category), and (3) in which communication format. The first exploratory study is a secondary analysis of 10 different health claims systematically combined with 10 different food carriers to evaluate their combined suitability for functional food positioning. The results show that consumers tend to prefer functional food concepts that primarily communicate disease-related health benefits in carriers with a healthy image or health positioning history. Study 2 examines health claim format and systematically varies the way in which specific health benefits are being communicated to the consumer. Two physiologically oriented claims (heart disease and osteoporosis) and two psychologically oriented food claims (stress and lack of energy) are expressed in enhanced function format versus disease risk reduction format. Also, it includes the individual difference variable of 'regulatory focus' and the health status of the respondent to explore how these factors impact health claim evaluation. The results show that consumer evaluations primarily differ to the extent that health claims are personally relevant in addressing an experienced disease state. Framing is important, but its effect differs by health benefit. No strong effects for consumers' regulatory focus were found. Underlying mechanisms of these effects and their implications for the development of functional foods are discussed.

Viremic HIV Infected Individuals with High CD4 T Cells and Functional Envelope Proteins Show Anti-gp41 Antibodies with Unique Specificity and Function

PubMed Central

Curriu, Marta; Fausther-Bovendo, Hughes; Pernas, María; Massanella, Marta; Carrillo, Jorge; Cabrera, Cecilia; López-Galíndez, Cecilio; Clotet, Bonaventura; Debré, Patrice; Vieillard, Vincent; Blanco, Julià

2012-01-01

Background CD4 T-cell decay is variable among HIV-infected individuals. In exceptional cases, CD4 T-cell counts remain stable despite high plasma viremia. HIV envelope glycoprotein (Env) properties, namely tropism, fusion or the ability to induce the NK ligand NKp44L, or host factors that modulate Env cytopathic mechanisms may be modified in such situation. Methods We identified untreated HIV-infected individuals showing non-cytopathic replication (VL>10,000 copies/mL and CD4 T-cell decay<50 cells/µL/year, Viremic Non Progressors, VNP) or rapid progression (CD4 T-cells<350 cells/µL within three years post-infection, RP). We isolated full-length Env clones and analyzed their functions (tropism, fusion activity and capacity to induce NKp44L expression on CD4 cells). Anti-Env humoral responses were also analyzed. Results Env clones isolated from VNP or RP individuals showed no major phenotypic differences. The percentage of functional clones was similar in both groups. All clones tested were CCR5-tropic and showed comparable expression and fusogenic activity. Moreover, no differences were observed in their capacity to induce NKp44L expression on CD4 T cells from healthy donors through the 3S epitope of gp41. In contrast, anti- Env antibodies showed clear functional differences: plasma from VNPs had significantly higher capacity than RPs to block NKp44L induction by autologous viruses. Consistently, CD4 T-cells isolated from VNPs showed undetectable NKp44L expression and specific antibodies against a variable region flanking the highly conserved 3S epitope were identified in plasma samples from these patients. Conversely, despite continuous antigen stimulation, VNPs were unable to mount a broad neutralizing response against HIV. Conclusions Env functions (fusion and induction of NKp44L) were similar in viremic patients with slow or rapid progression to AIDS. However, differences in humoral responses against gp41 epitopes nearby 3S sequence may contribute to the lack of CD4 T cell decay in VNPs by blocking the induction of NKp44L by gp41. PMID:22312424

Individual differences in metacontrast masking regarding sensitivity and response bias.

PubMed

Albrecht, Thorsten; Mattler, Uwe

2012-09-01

In metacontrast masking target visibility is modulated by the time until a masking stimulus appears. The effect of this temporal delay differs across participants in such a way that individual human observers' performance shows distinguishable types of masking functions which remain largely unchanged for months. Here we examined whether individual differences in masking functions depend on different response criteria in addition to differences in discrimination sensitivity. To this end we reanalyzed previously published data and conducted a new experiment for further data analyses. Our analyses demonstrate that a distinction of masking functions based on the type of masking stimulus is superior to a distinction based on the target-mask congruency. Individually different masking functions are based on individual differences in discrimination sensitivities and in response criteria. Results suggest that individual differences in metacontrast masking result from individually different criterion contents. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The structural and functional brain networks that support human social networks.

PubMed

Noonan, M P; Mars, R B; Sallet, J; Dunbar, R I M; Fellows, L K

2018-02-20

Social skills rely on a specific set of cognitive processes, raising the possibility that individual differences in social networks are related to differences in specific brain structural and functional networks. Here, we tested this hypothesis with multimodality neuroimaging. With diffusion MRI (DMRI), we showed that differences in structural integrity of particular white matter (WM) tracts, including cingulum bundle, extreme capsule and arcuate fasciculus were associated with an individual's social network size (SNS). A voxel-based morphology analysis demonstrated correlations between gray matter (GM) volume and SNS in limbic and temporal lobe regions. These structural changes co-occured with functional network differences. As a function of SNS, dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showed altered resting-state functional connectivity with the default mode network (DMN). Finally, we integrated these three complementary methods, interrogating the relationship between social GM clusters and specific WM and resting-state networks (RSNs). Probabilistic tractography seeded in these GM nodes utilized the SNS-related WM pathways. Further, the spatial and functional overlap between the social GM clusters and the DMN was significantly closer than other control RSNs. These integrative analyses provide convergent evidence of the role of specific circuits in SNS, likely supporting the adaptive behavior necessary for success in extensive social environments. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative analyses of quaternary arrangements in homo-oligomeric proteins in superfamilies: Functional implications.

PubMed

Sudha, Govindarajan; Srinivasan, Narayanaswamy

2016-09-01

A comprehensive analysis of the quaternary features of distantly related homo-oligomeric proteins is the focus of the current study. This study has been performed at the levels of quaternary state, symmetry, and quaternary structure. Quaternary state and quaternary structure refers to the number of subunits and spatial arrangements of subunits, respectively. Using a large dataset of available 3D structures of biologically relevant assemblies, we show that only 53% of the distantly related homo-oligomeric proteins have the same quaternary state. Considering these homologous homo-oligomers with the same quaternary state, conservation of quaternary structures is observed only in 38% of the pairs. In 36% of the pairs of distantly related homo-oligomers with different quaternary states the larger assembly in a pair shows high structural similarity with the entire quaternary structure of the related protein with lower quaternary state and it is referred as "Russian doll effect." The differences in quaternary state and structure have been suggested to contribute to the functional diversity. Detailed investigations show that even though the gross functions of many distantly related homo-oligomers are the same, finer level differences in molecular functions are manifested by differences in quaternary states and structures. Comparison of structures of biological assemblies in distantly and closely related homo-oligomeric proteins throughout the study differentiates the effects of sequence divergence on the quaternary structures and function. Knowledge inferred from this study can provide insights for improved protein structure classification and function prediction of homo-oligomers. Proteins 2016; 84:1190-1202. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Relationship between Speech Production and Perception in People Who Stutter

PubMed Central

Lu, Chunming; Long, Yuhang; Zheng, Lifen; Shi, Guang; Liu, Li; Ding, Guosheng; Howell, Peter

2016-01-01

Speech production difficulties are apparent in people who stutter (PWS). PWS also have difficulties in speech perception compared to controls. It is unclear whether the speech perception difficulties in PWS are independent of, or related to, their speech production difficulties. To investigate this issue, functional MRI data were collected on 13 PWS and 13 controls whilst the participants performed a speech production task and a speech perception task. PWS performed poorer than controls in the perception task and the poorer performance was associated with a functional activity difference in the left anterior insula (part of the speech motor area) compared to controls. PWS also showed a functional activity difference in this and the surrounding area [left inferior frontal cortex (IFC)/anterior insula] in the production task compared to controls. Conjunction analysis showed that the functional activity differences between PWS and controls in the left IFC/anterior insula coincided across the perception and production tasks. Furthermore, Granger Causality Analysis on the resting-state fMRI data of the participants showed that the causal connection from the left IFC/anterior insula to an area in the left primary auditory cortex (Heschl’s gyrus) differed significantly between PWS and controls. The strength of this connection correlated significantly with performance in the perception task. These results suggest that speech perception difficulties in PWS are associated with anomalous functional activity in the speech motor area, and the altered functional connectivity from this area to the auditory area plays a role in the speech perception difficulties of PWS. PMID:27242487

Task-specific activity and connectivity within the mentalizing network during emotion and intention mentalizing.

PubMed

Atique, Bijoy; Erb, Michael; Gharabaghi, Alireza; Grodd, Wolfgang; Anders, Silke

2011-04-15

Mentalizing, i.e. the process of inferring another person's mental state, is thought to be primarily subserved by three brain regions, the VMPFC (ventromedial prefrontal cortex), precuneus and TPJ (temporo-parietal junction). However, it is still unclear what the exact roles of these regions in mentalizing are. Here, we compare activity within, and functional connectivity between, the VMPFC, precuneus and TPJ during two different mentalizing tasks. Specifically, we examine whether inferring another person's emotion ("emotion mentalizing") and inferring another person's intention ("intention mentalizing") activate similar or distinct subregions within the VMPFC, precuneus and TPJ, and whether these different kinds of mentalizing are associated with different patterns of functional connectivity between these regions. Our results indicate that emotion mentalizing and intention mentalizing activate partly distinct subregions of the right and left TPJ that can be spatially separated across participants. These subregions also showed different patterns of functional connectivity with the VMPFC: a more anterior region of the right and left TPJ, which was more strongly activated during emotion mentalizing, showed stronger functional connectivity with the VMPFC, particularly during emotion mentalizing, than a more posterior region that was more strongly activated during intention mentalizing. Critically, this double dissociation became evident only when the fine-scale distribution of activity within activated regions was analysed, and despite the fact that there was also a significant overlap of activity during the two tasks. Our findings provide first evidence that different neural modules might have evolved within the TPJ that show distinct patterns of functional connectivity and might subserve slightly different subfunctions of mentalizing. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative analysis of short - term functional outcomes and quality of life in a prospective series of brachytherapy and Da Vinci robotic prostatectomy

PubMed Central

García-Sánchez, Cristina; Román Martín, Ana A.; Conde-Sánchez, J. Manuel; Congregado-Ruíz, C. Belén; Osman-García, Ignacio; Medina-López, Rafael A.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Introduction There is a growing interest in achieving higher survival rates with the lowest morbidity in localized prostate cancer (PC) treatment. Consequently, minimally invasive techniques such as low-dose rate brachytherapy (BT) and robotic-assisted prostatectomy (RALP) have been developed and improved. Comparative analysis of functional outcomes and quality of life in a prospective series of 51BT and 42Da Vinci prostatectomies DV Materials and Methods Comparative analysis of functional outcomes and quality of life in a prospective series of 93 patients with low-risk localized PC diagnosed in 2011. 51patients underwent low-dose rate BT and the other 42 patients RALP. IIEF to assess erectile function, ICIQ to evaluate continence and SF36 test to quality of life wee employed. Results ICIQ at the first revision shows significant differences which favour the BT group, 79% present with continence or mild incontinence, whereas in the DV group 45% show these positive results. Differences disappear after 6 months, with 45 patients (89%) presenting with continence or mild incontinence in the BT group vs. 30 (71%) in the DV group. 65% of patients are potent in the first revision following BT and 39% following DV. Such differences are not significant and cannot be observed after 6 months. No significant differences were found in the comparative analysis of quality of life. Conclusions ICIQ after surgery shows significant differences in favour of BT, which disappear after 6 months. Both procedures have a serious impact on erectile function, being even greater in the DV group. Differences between groups disappear after 6 months. PMID:28128908

Red Brain, Blue Brain: Evaluative Processes Differ in Democrats and Republicans

PubMed Central

Schreiber, Darren; Fonzo, Greg; Simmons, Alan N.; Dawes, Christopher T.; Flagan, Taru; Fowler, James H.; Paulus, Martin P.

2013-01-01

Liberals and conservatives exhibit different cognitive styles and converging lines of evidence suggest that biology influences differences in their political attitudes and beliefs. In particular, a recent study of young adults suggests that liberals and conservatives have significantly different brain structure, with liberals showing increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, and conservatives showing increased gray matter volume in the in the amygdala. Here, we explore differences in brain function in liberals and conservatives by matching publicly-available voter records to 82 subjects who performed a risk-taking task during functional imaging. Although the risk-taking behavior of Democrats (liberals) and Republicans (conservatives) did not differ, their brain activity did. Democrats showed significantly greater activity in the left insula, while Republicans showed significantly greater activity in the right amygdala. In fact, a two parameter model of partisanship based on amygdala and insula activations yields a better fitting model of partisanship than a well-established model based on parental socialization of party identification long thought to be one of the core findings of political science. These results suggest that liberals and conservatives engage different cognitive processes when they think about risk, and they support recent evidence that conservatives show greater sensitivity to threatening stimuli. PMID:23418419

Altered functional connectivity differs in stroke survivors with impaired touch sensation following left and right hemisphere lesions.

PubMed

Goodin, Peter; Lamp, Gemma; Vidyasagar, Rishma; McArdle, David; Seitz, Rüdiger J; Carey, Leeanne M

2018-01-01

One in two survivors experience impairment in touch sensation after stroke. The nature of this impairment is likely associated with changes associated with the functional somatosensory network of the brain; however few studies have examined this. In particular, the impact of lesioned hemisphere has not been investigated. We examined resting state functional connectivity in 28 stroke survivors, 14 with left hemisphere and 14 with right hemisphere lesion, and 14 healthy controls. Contra-lesional hands showed significantly decreased touch discrimination. Whole brain functional connectivity (FC) data was extracted from four seed regions, i.e. primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortices in both hemispheres. Whole brain FC maps and Laterality Indices (LI) were calculated for subgroups. Inter-hemispheric FC was greater in healthy controls compared to the combined stroke cohort from the left S1 seed and bilateral S2 seeds. The left lesion subgroup showed decreased FC, relative to controls, from left ipsi-lesional S1 to contra-lesional S1 and to distributed temporal, occipital and parietal regions. In comparison, the right lesion group showed decreased connectivity from contra-lesional left S1 and bilateral S2 to ipsi-lesional parietal operculum (S2), and to occipital and temporal regions. The right lesion group also showed increased intra-hemispheric FC from ipsi-lesional right S1 to inferior parietal regions compared to controls. In comparison to the left lesion group, those with right lesion showed greater intra-hemispheric connectivity from left S1 to left parietal and occipital regions and from right S1 to right angular and parietal regions. Laterality Indices were significantly greater for stroke subgroups relative to matched controls for contra-lesional S1 (left lesion group) and contra-lesional S2 (both groups). We provide evidence of altered functional connectivity within the somatosensory network, across both hemispheres, and to other networks in stroke survivors with impaired touch sensation. Hemisphere of lesion was associated with different patterns of altered functional connectivity within the somatosensory network and with related function was associated with different patterns of altered functional connectivity within the somatosensory network and with related functional networks.

Different Signal Enhancement Pathways of Attention and Consciousness Underlie Perception in Humans.

PubMed

van Boxtel, Jeroen J A

2017-06-14

It is not yet known whether attention and consciousness operate through similar or largely different mechanisms. Visual processing mechanisms are routinely characterized by measuring contrast response functions (CRFs). In this report, behavioral CRFs were obtained in humans (both males and females) by measuring afterimage durations over the entire range of inducer stimulus contrasts to reveal visual mechanisms behind attention and consciousness. Deviations relative to the standard CRF, i.e., gain functions, describe the strength of signal enhancement, which were assessed for both changes due to attentional task and conscious perception. It was found that attention displayed a response-gain function, whereas consciousness displayed a contrast-gain function. Through model comparisons, which only included contrast-gain modulations, both contrast-gain and response-gain effects can be explained with a two-level normalization model, in which consciousness affects only the first level and attention affects only the second level. These results demonstrate that attention and consciousness can effectively show different gain functions because they operate through different signal enhancement mechanisms. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The relationship between attention and consciousness is still debated. Mapping contrast response functions (CRFs) has allowed (neuro)scientists to gain important insights into the mechanistic underpinnings of visual processing. Here, the influence of both attention and consciousness on these functions were measured and they displayed a strong dissociation. First, attention lowered CRFs, whereas consciousness raised them. Second, attention manifests itself as a response-gain function, whereas consciousness manifests itself as a contrast-gain function. Extensive model comparisons show that these results are best explained in a two-level normalization model in which consciousness affects only the first level, whereas attention affects only the second level. These findings show dissociations between both the computational mechanisms behind attention and consciousness and the perceptual consequences that they induce. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/375912-11$15.00/0.

Co-localisation of abnormal brain structure and function in specific language impairment

PubMed Central

Badcock, Nicholas A.; Bishop, Dorothy V.M.; Hardiman, Mervyn J.; Barry, Johanna G.; Watkins, Kate E.

2012-01-01

We assessed the relationship between brain structure and function in 10 individuals with specific language impairment (SLI), compared to six unaffected siblings, and 16 unrelated control participants with typical language. Voxel-based morphometry indicated that grey matter in the SLI group, relative to controls, was increased in the left inferior frontal cortex and decreased in the right caudate nucleus and superior temporal cortex bilaterally. The unaffected siblings also showed reduced grey matter in the caudate nucleus relative to controls. In an auditory covert naming task, the SLI group showed reduced activation in the left inferior frontal cortex, right putamen, and in the superior temporal cortex bilaterally. Despite spatially coincident structural and functional abnormalities in frontal and temporal areas, the relationships between structure and function in these regions were different. These findings suggest multiple structural and functional abnormalities in SLI that are differently associated with receptive and expressive language processing. PMID:22137677

Stereotype threat and executive functions: which functions mediate different threat-related outcomes?

PubMed

Rydell, Robert J; Van Loo, Katie J; Boucher, Kathryn L

2014-03-01

Stereotype threat research shows that women's math performance can be reduced by activating gender-based math stereotypes. Models of stereotype threat assert that threat reduces cognitive functioning, thereby accounting for its negative effects. This work provides a more detailed understanding of the cognitive processes through which stereotype threat leads women to underperform at math and to take risks, by examining which basic executive functions (inhibition, shifting, and updating) account for these outcomes. In Experiments 1 and 2, women under threat showed reduced inhibition, reduced updating, and reduced math performance compared with women in a control condition (or men); however, only updating accounted for women's poor math performance under threat. In Experiment 3, only updating accounted for stereotype threat's effect on women's math performance, whereas only inhibition accounted for the effect of threat on risk-taking, suggesting that distinct executive functions can account for different stereotype threat-related outcomes.

Modular biological function is most effectively captured by combining molecular interaction data types.

PubMed

Ames, Ryan M; Macpherson, Jamie I; Pinney, John W; Lovell, Simon C; Robertson, David L

2013-01-01

Large-scale molecular interaction data sets have the potential to provide a comprehensive, system-wide understanding of biological function. Although individual molecules can be promiscuous in terms of their contribution to function, molecular functions emerge from the specific interactions of molecules giving rise to modular organisation. As functions often derive from a range of mechanisms, we demonstrate that they are best studied using networks derived from different sources. Implementing a graph partitioning algorithm we identify subnetworks in yeast protein-protein interaction (PPI), genetic interaction and gene co-regulation networks. Among these subnetworks we identify cohesive subgraphs that we expect to represent functional modules in the different data types. We demonstrate significant overlap between the subgraphs generated from the different data types and show these overlaps can represent related functions as represented by the Gene Ontology (GO). Next, we investigate the correspondence between our subgraphs and the Gene Ontology. This revealed varying degrees of coverage of the biological process, molecular function and cellular component ontologies, dependent on the data type. For example, subgraphs from the PPI show enrichment for 84%, 58% and 93% of annotated GO terms, respectively. Integrating the interaction data into a combined network increases the coverage of GO. Furthermore, the different annotation types of GO are not predominantly associated with one of the interaction data types. Collectively our results demonstrate that successful capture of functional relationships by network data depends on both the specific biological function being characterised and the type of network data being used. We identify functions that require integrated information to be accurately represented, demonstrating the limitations of individual data types. Combining interaction subnetworks across data types is therefore essential for fully understanding the complex and emergent nature of biological function.

Developmental Differences in Error-Related ERPs in Middle- to Late-Adolescent Males

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santesso, Diane L.; Segalowitz, Sidney J.

2008-01-01

Although there are some studies documenting structural brain changes during late adolescence, there are few showing functional brain changes over this period in humans. Of special interest would be functional changes in the medial frontal cortex that reflect response monitoring. In order to examine such age-related differences, the authors…

Effect of grain moisture content during milling on pasting profile and functional properties of amaranth fractions.

PubMed

Kumar, K Vishnuswamy Preetham; Dharmaraj, Usha; Sakhare, Suresh D; Inamdar, Aashitosh A

2016-05-01

Evaluation of functional properties of milled fractions of grain amaranth may be useful to decide the end uses of the grain. Hence, pasting profiles of amaranth fractions obtained by milling the grains at different moisture contents were studied in relation with their starch profile and also with their swelling power and solubility indices. It was observed that, for flour fraction, the viscosity parameters were lowest at 14-16 % moisture content. Swelling power and solubility indices of the samples varied as a function of grain moisture content. The middling fraction also showed similar pasting pattern with the variation of grain moisture content. The seed coat fractions showed higher gelatinization temperature compared to that of fine flour and middling fractions. However, starch content of the fine seed coat fraction was comparable with that of the flour and middling fractions. The coarse seed coat fraction showed lower viscosity parameters than the other samples. Viscosity parameters correlated well among themselves while, they did not show significant correlation with the starch content. However, the viscosity parameters showed negative correlation with the soluble amylose content. The study revealed that, the fractions obtained by milling the grains at different moisture content show differential pasting profiles and functional properties.

A Class of Manifold Regularized Multiplicative Update Algorithms for Image Clustering.

PubMed

Yang, Shangming; Yi, Zhang; He, Xiaofei; Li, Xuelong

2015-12-01

Multiplicative update algorithms are important tools for information retrieval, image processing, and pattern recognition. However, when the graph regularization is added to the cost function, different classes of sample data may be mapped to the same subspace, which leads to the increase of data clustering error rate. In this paper, an improved nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) cost function is introduced. Based on the cost function, a class of novel graph regularized NMF algorithms is developed, which results in a class of extended multiplicative update algorithms with manifold structure regularization. Analysis shows that in the learning, the proposed algorithms can efficiently minimize the rank of the data representation matrix. Theoretical results presented in this paper are confirmed by simulations. For different initializations and data sets, variation curves of cost functions and decomposition data are presented to show the convergence features of the proposed update rules. Basis images, reconstructed images, and clustering results are utilized to present the efficiency of the new algorithms. Last, the clustering accuracies of different algorithms are also investigated, which shows that the proposed algorithms can achieve state-of-the-art performance in applications of image clustering.

The MMPI-2 in chronic psychiatric illness.

PubMed

Bosch, Peggy; Van Luijtelaar, Gilles; Van Den Noort, Maurits; Schenkwald, Julia; Kueppenbender, Nicole; Lim, Sabina; Egger, Jos; Coenen, Anton

2014-10-01

While previous studies on the MMPI-2 in patients with schizophrenia and depression have used mixed samples of both early stage and chronic psychiatric patients. Here, it is investigated whether chronicity itself might have a differential effect on the MMPI-2 profiles of these patients and whether demoralization 'associated with long-term illness' affects the scales of the MMPI-2. Thirty long-term patients with schizophrenia, 30 long-term patients with depression, and 30 healthy participants completed the MMPI-2. Groups were compared on Clinical Scales and on the Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales. Patients with schizophrenia differed from patients with depression on 14 MMPI-2 scales and from healthy controls on 10 scales, generally showing mean UT-scores < 65, indicating a subjective experience of (near) normal functioning. Patients with depression differed from healthy controls on 17 scales mostly with UT-scores > 65, indicating impaired functioning. Demoralization was higher in patients with depression than in patients with schizophrenia and both psychiatric groups differed from the healthy control group. It is concluded that long-term patients with depression show impaired functioning and high demoralization, while long-term patients with schizophrenia surprisingly show near normal functioning and less demoralization. © 2014 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

BOLD signal and functional connectivity associated with loving kindness meditation

PubMed Central

Garrison, Kathleen A; Scheinost, Dustin; Constable, R Todd; Brewer, Judson A

2014-01-01

Loving kindness is a form of meditation involving directed well-wishing, typically supported by the silent repetition of phrases such as “may all beings be happy,” to foster a feeling of selfless love. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the neural substrate of loving kindness meditation in experienced meditators and novices. We first assessed group differences in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal during loving kindness meditation. We next used a relatively novel approach, the intrinsic connectivity distribution of functional connectivity, to identify regions that differ in intrinsic connectivity between groups, and then used a data-driven approach to seed-based connectivity analysis to identify which connections differ between groups. Our findings suggest group differences in brain regions involved in self-related processing and mind wandering, emotional processing, inner speech, and memory. Meditators showed overall reduced BOLD signal and intrinsic connectivity during loving kindness as compared to novices, more specifically in the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PCu), a finding that is consistent with our prior work and other recent neuroimaging studies of meditation. Furthermore, meditators showed greater functional connectivity during loving kindness between the PCC/PCu and the left inferior frontal gyrus, whereas novices showed greater functional connectivity during loving kindness between the PCC/PCu and other cortical midline regions of the default mode network, the bilateral posterior insula lobe, and the bilateral parahippocampus/hippocampus. These novel findings suggest that loving kindness meditation involves a present-centered, selfless focus for meditators as compared to novices. PMID:24944863

Differential expression pattern of UBX family genes in Caenorhabditis elegans

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamauchi, Seiji; Sasagawa, Yohei; Ogura, Teru

2007-06-29

UBX (ubiquitin regulatory X)-containing proteins belong to an evolutionary conserved protein family and determine the specificity of p97/VCP/Cdc48p function by binding as its adaptors. Caenorhabditis elegans was found to possess six UBX-containing proteins, named UBXN-1 to -6. However, no general or specific function of them has been revealed. During the course of understanding not only their function but also specified function of p97, we investigated spatial and temporal expression patterns of six ubxn genes in this study. Transcript analyses showed that the expression pattern of each ubxn gene was different throughout worm's development and may show potential developmental dynamics inmore » their function, especially ubxn-5 was expressed specifically in the spermatogenic germline, suggesting a crucial role in spermatogenesis. In addition, as ubxn-4 expression was induced by ER stress, it would function as an ERAD factor in C. elegans. In vivo expression analysis by using GFP translational fusion constructs revealed that six ubxn genes show distinct expression patterns. These results altogether demonstrate that the expression of all six ubxn genes of C. elegans is differently regulated.« less

Behavioral Executive Functions Among Adolescents With Mathematics Difficulties.

PubMed

Holm, Marja E; Aunio, Pirjo; Björn, Piia M; Klenberg, Liisa; Korhonen, Johan; Hannula, Markku S

2017-07-01

This study investigates behavioral executive functions (EFs) in the mathematics classroom context among adolescents with different mathematics performance levels. The EF problems were assessed by teachers using a behavioral rating inventory. Using cutoff scores on a standardized mathematics assessment, groups with mathematics difficulties (MD; n = 124), low mathematics performance (LA; n = 140), and average or higher scores (AC; n = 355) were identified. Results showed that the MD group had more problems with distractibility, directing attention, shifting attention, initiative, execution of action, planning, and evaluation than the LA group, whereas the differences in hyperactivity, impulsivity, and sustaining attention were not significant. Compared to the AC group, the MD group showed more problems with all behavioral EFs except hyperactivity and impulsivity, while the LA group showed more problems only with shifting attention. Male adolescents showed more behavioral EF problems than female adolescents, but this gender difference was negligible within the MD group. The practical implications of the results are discussed.

Effects of brain-computer interface-based functional electrical stimulation on balance and gait function in patients with stroke: preliminary results

PubMed Central

Chung, EunJung; Park, Sang-In; Jang, Yun-Yung; Lee, Byoung-Hee

2015-01-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of brain-computer interface (BCI)-based functional electrical stimulation (FES) on balance and gait function in patients with stroke. [Subjects] Subjects were randomly allocated to a BCI-FES group (n=5) and a FES group (n=5). [Methods] The BCI-FES group received ankle dorsiflexion training with FES according to a BCI-based program for 30 minutes per day for 5 days. The FES group received ankle dorsiflexion training with FES for the same duration. [Results] Following the intervention, the BCI-FES group showed significant differences in Timed Up and Go test value, cadence, and step length on the affected side. The FES group showed no significant differences after the intervention. However, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups after the intervention. [Conclusion] The results of this study suggest that BCI-based FES training is a more effective exercise for balance and gait function than FES training alone in patients with stroke. PMID:25729205

Effects of brain-computer interface-based functional electrical stimulation on balance and gait function in patients with stroke: preliminary results.

PubMed

Chung, EunJung; Park, Sang-In; Jang, Yun-Yung; Lee, Byoung-Hee

2015-02-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of brain-computer interface (BCI)-based functional electrical stimulation (FES) on balance and gait function in patients with stroke. [Subjects] Subjects were randomly allocated to a BCI-FES group (n=5) and a FES group (n=5). [Methods] The BCI-FES group received ankle dorsiflexion training with FES according to a BCI-based program for 30 minutes per day for 5 days. The FES group received ankle dorsiflexion training with FES for the same duration. [Results] Following the intervention, the BCI-FES group showed significant differences in Timed Up and Go test value, cadence, and step length on the affected side. The FES group showed no significant differences after the intervention. However, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups after the intervention. [Conclusion] The results of this study suggest that BCI-based FES training is a more effective exercise for balance and gait function than FES training alone in patients with stroke.

[Executive dysfunction in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in childhood].

PubMed

Romero-Ayuso, D M; Maestú, F; González-Marqués, J; Romo-Barrientos, C; Andrade, J M

The principal problem of ADHD is the difficulty to execute inhibitory control. The inhibition is an executive function that is develop during childhood. To know if other executive functions shower a lower performance in ADHD versus control group and these were different between ADHD-I and ADHD-C. Fifty three children, between 7 to 10 years old, participated and were assess with EMIC and Simon task. The results showed similar profile in working memory and verbal span. In contrast, ADHD-C showed lower performance in Simon task and more impulsively. On an other hand, ADHD-I showed lower performance in memory working tasks and planning. These results suggest differences in the executive profile between ADHD-I and ADHD-C and these support the hypothesis of Barkley about the necessity to differ both clinical subtypes.

Analysis of AtCry1 and Mutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdick, Derek; Purvis, Adam; Ahmad, Margaret; Link, Justin J.; Engle, Dorothy

Cryptochrome is an incredibly versatile protein that influences numerous biological processes such as plant growth, bird migration, and sleep cycles. Due to the versatility of this protein, understanding the mechanism would allow for advances in numerous fields such as crop growth, animal behavior, and sleep disorders. It is known that cryptochrome requires blue light to function, but the exact processes in the regulation of biological activity are still not fully understood. It is believed that the c-terminal domain of the protein undergoes a conformational change when exposed to blue light which allows for biological function. Three different non-functioning mutants were tested during this study to gain insight on the mechanism of cryptochrome. Absorbance spectra showed a difference between two of the mutants and the wild type with one mutant showing little difference. Immunoprecipitation experiments were also conducted to identify the different c-terminal responses of the mutants. By studying non functioning mutants of this protein, the mechanism of the protein can be further characterized. This two-month research experience in Paris allowed us to experience international and interdisciplinary collaborations in science and immerse in a different culture. The Borcer Fund for Student Research, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, and John Hauck Foundation.

Comparative analysis of taxonomic, functional, and metabolic patterns of microbiomes from 14 full-scale biogas reactors by metagenomic sequencing and radioisotopic analysis.

PubMed

Luo, Gang; Fotidis, Ioannis A; Angelidaki, Irini

2016-01-01

Biogas production is a very complex process due to the high complexity in diversity and interactions of the microorganisms mediating it, and only limited and diffuse knowledge exists about the variation of taxonomic and functional patterns of microbiomes across different biogas reactors, and their relationships with the metabolic patterns. The present study used metagenomic sequencing and radioisotopic analysis to assess the taxonomic, functional, and metabolic patterns of microbiomes from 14 full-scale biogas reactors operated under various conditions treating either sludge or manure. The results from metagenomic analysis showed that the dominant methanogenic pathway revealed by radioisotopic analysis was not always correlated with the taxonomic and functional compositions. It was found by radioisotopic experiments that the aceticlastic methanogenic pathway was dominant, while metagenomics analysis showed higher relative abundance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens. Principal coordinates analysis showed the sludge-based samples were clearly distinct from the manure-based samples for both taxonomic and functional patterns, and canonical correspondence analysis showed that the both temperature and free ammonia were crucial environmental variables shaping the taxonomic and functional patterns. The study further the overall patterns of functional genes were strongly correlated with overall patterns of taxonomic composition across different biogas reactors. The discrepancy between the metabolic patterns determined by metagenomic analysis and metabolic pathways determined by radioisotopic analysis was found. Besides, a clear correlation between taxonomic and functional patterns was demonstrated for biogas reactors, and also the environmental factors that shaping both taxonomic and functional genes patterns were identified.

Functional and structural neural alterations in Internet gaming disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Yao, Yuan-Wei; Liu, Lu; Ma, Shan-Shan; Shi, Xin-Hui; Zhou, Nan; Zhang, Jin-Tao; Potenza, Marc N

2017-12-01

This meta-analytic study aimed to identify the common and specific neural alterations in Internet gaming disorder (IGD) across different domains and modalities. Two separate meta-analyses for functional neural activation and gray-matter volume were conducted. Sub-meta-analyses for the domains of reward, cold-executive, and hot-executive functions were also performed, respectively. IGD subjects, compared with healthy controls, showed: (1) hyperactivation in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, caudate, posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which were mainly associated with studies measuring reward and cold-executive functions; and, (2) hypoactivation in the anterior IFG in relation to hot-executive function, the posterior insula, somatomotor and somatosensory cortices in relation to reward function. Furthermore, IGD subjects showed reduced gray-matter volume in the anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and premotor cortices. These findings suggest that IGD is associated with both functional and structural neural alterations in fronto-striatal and fronto-cingulate regions. Moreover, multi-domain assessments capture different aspects of neural alterations in IGD, which may be helpful for developing effective interventions targeting specific functions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Antolin, J.; Instituto Carlos I de Fisica Teorica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, ES-18071 Granada; Bouvrie, P. A.

An alternative one-parameter measure of divergence is proposed, quantifying the discrepancy among general probability densities. Its main mathematical properties include (i) comparison among an arbitrary number of functions, (ii) the possibility of assigning different weights to each function according to its relevance on the comparative procedure, and (iii) ability to modify the relative contribution of different regions within the domain. Applications to the study of atomic density functions, in both conjugated spaces, show the versatility and universality of this divergence.

Spatial correlations and probability density function of the phase difference in a developed speckle-field: numerical and natural experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mysina, N Yu; Maksimova, L A; Ryabukho, V P

Investigated are statistical properties of the phase difference of oscillations in speckle-fields at two points in the far-field diffraction region, with different shapes of the scatterer aperture. Statistical and spatial nonuniformity of the probability density function of the field phase difference is established. Numerical experiments show that, for the speckle-fields with an oscillating alternating-sign transverse correlation function, a significant nonuniformity of the probability density function of the phase difference in the correlation region of the field complex amplitude, with the most probable values 0 and p, is observed. A natural statistical interference experiment using Young diagrams has confirmed the resultsmore » of numerical experiments. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)« less

A Comparison of Voice Activity and Participation Profiles Among Etiological Groups.

PubMed

Lee, Seung Jin; Choi, Hong-Shik; Kim, HyangHee

2018-05-11

The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with functional voice disorders show voice activity and participation profiles different from those of the organic and neurogenic groups. The Korean Version of the Voice Activity and Participation Profile (K-VAPP) was administered to 200 participants (150 patients with functional, organic, and neurogenic voice disorders, 50 for each etiological group, 50 controls without vocal complaint). The K-VAPP subscale scores of the etiological groups were compared, controlling for age, professional use of voice, and severity of voice disorder measured by overall severity of the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V). Results of a one-way analysis of variance indicated significant differences in the overall severity across groups (neurogenic > functional = organic > control). Among four groups, the organic group showed higher mean Z-scores of the K-VAPP than the control group, and the functional group showed higher mean Z-scores of the K-VAPP than the organic group. Compared with the neurogenic group, the functional group showed lower mean Z-scores for total score, Activity Limitation Score, SUB3, and SUB5. A comparison among three etiological groups showed that the functional group did not show higher scores than the organic group. On the contrary, the functional group showed a lower total score, Participation Restriction Score, and score for subsection 3 (effect on daily communication) than the neurogenic group. Psychometric assessment of voice disorders using the K-VAPP could provide clinicians with baseline information that is applicable to various voice disorders. Further studies pertaining to the follow-up of voice disorders with various etiologies are needed to extend its clinical usefulness. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Specification of the utility function in discrete choice experiments.

PubMed

van der Pol, Marjon; Currie, Gillian; Kromm, Seija; Ryan, Mandy

2014-03-01

The specification of the utility function has received limited attention within the discrete choice experiment (DCE) literature. This lack of investigation is surprising given that evidence from the contingent valuation literature suggests that welfare estimates are sensitive to different specifications of the utility function. This study investigates the effect of different specifications of the utility function on results within a DCE. The DCE elicited the public's preferences for waiting time for hip and knee replacement and estimated willingness to wait (WTW). The results showed that the WTW for the different patient profiles varied considerably across the three different specifications of the utility function. Assuming a linear utility function led to much higher estimates of marginal rates of substitution (WTWs) than with nonlinear specifications. The goodness-of-fit measures indicated that nonlinear specifications were superior. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterizing Bonding Patterns in Diradicals and Triradicals by Density-Based Wave Function Analysis: A Uniform Approach.

PubMed

Orms, Natalie; Rehn, Dirk R; Dreuw, Andreas; Krylov, Anna I

2018-02-13

Density-based wave function analysis enables unambiguous comparisons of the electronic structure computed by different methods and removes ambiguity of orbital choices. We use this tool to investigate the performance of different spin-flip methods for several prototypical diradicals and triradicals. In contrast to previous calibration studies that focused on energy gaps between high- and low spin-states, we focus on the properties of the underlying wave functions, such as the number of effectively unpaired electrons. Comparison of different density functional and wave function theory results provides insight into the performance of the different methods when applied to strongly correlated systems such as polyradicals. We show that canonical molecular orbitals for species like large copper-containing diradicals fail to correctly represent the underlying electronic structure due to highly non-Koopmans character, while density-based analysis of the same wave function delivers a clear picture of the bonding pattern.

Morphology and function of the forelimb in arboreal frogs: specializations for grasping ability?

PubMed Central

Manzano, Adriana S; Abdala, Virginia; Herrel, Anthony

2008-01-01

Frogs are characterized by a unique morphology associated with their saltatory lifestyle. Although variation in the form and function of the pelvic girdle and associated appendicular system related to specialized locomotor modes such as swimming or burrowing has been documented, the forelimbs have typically been viewed as relatively unspecialized. Yet, previous authors have noted versatility in forelimb function among arboreal frogs associated with feeding. Here we study the morphology and function of the forelimb and hand during locomotion in two species of arboreal frogs (Litoria caerulea and Phyllomedusa bicolor). Our data show a complex arrangement of the distal forelimb and hand musculature with some notable differences between species. Analyses of high-speed video and video fluoroscopy recordings show that forelimbs are used in alternating fashion in a diagonal sequence footfall pattern and that the position of the hand is adjusted when walking on substrates of different diameters. Electromyographic recordings show that the flexors of the hand are active during substrate contact, suggesting the use of gripping to generate a stabilizing torque. Measurements of grasping forces in vivo and during stimulation experiments show that both species, are capable of executing a so-called power grip but also indicates marked differences between species, in the magnitude of forces generated. Stimulation experiments showed an increased control of digit flexion in the more specialized of the two species, allowing it to execute a precision grip paralleled only by that seen in primates. PMID:18565111

Morphology and function of the forelimb in arboreal frogs: specializations for grasping ability?

PubMed

Manzano, Adriana S; Abdala, Virginia; Herrel, Anthony

2008-09-01

Frogs are characterized by a unique morphology associated with their saltatory lifestyle. Although variation in the form and function of the pelvic girdle and associated appendicular system related to specialized locomotor modes such as swimming or burrowing has been documented, the forelimbs have typically been viewed as relatively unspecialized. Yet, previous authors have noted versatility in forelimb function among arboreal frogs associated with feeding. Here we study the morphology and function of the forelimb and hand during locomotion in two species of arboreal frogs (Litoria caerulea and Phyllomedusa bicolor). Our data show a complex arrangement of the distal forelimb and hand musculature with some notable differences between species. Analyses of high-speed video and video fluoroscopy recordings show that forelimbs are used in alternating fashion in a diagonal sequence footfall pattern and that the position of the hand is adjusted when walking on substrates of different diameters. Electromyographic recordings show that the flexors of the hand are active during substrate contact, suggesting the use of gripping to generate a stabilizing torque. Measurements of grasping forces in vivo and during stimulation experiments show that both species, are capable of executing a so-called power grip but also indicates marked differences between species, in the magnitude of forces generated. Stimulation experiments showed an increased control of digit flexion in the more specialized of the two species, allowing it to execute a precision grip paralleled only by that seen in primates.

Age differences in the functional interactions among the default, frontoparietal control, and dorsal attention networks.

PubMed

Grady, Cheryl; Sarraf, Saman; Saverino, Cristina; Campbell, Karen

2016-05-01

Older adults typically show weaker functional connectivity (FC) within brain networks compared with young adults, but stronger functional connections between networks. Our primary aim here was to use a graph theoretical approach to identify age differences in the FC of 3 networks-default mode network (DMN), dorsal attention network, and frontoparietal control (FPC)-during rest and task conditions and test the hypothesis that age differences in the FPC would influence age differences in the other networks, consistent with its role as a cognitive "switch." At rest, older adults showed lower clustering values compared with the young, and both groups showed more between-network connections involving the FPC than the other 2 networks, but this difference was greater in the older adults. Connectivity within the DMN was reduced in older compared with younger adults. Consistent with our hypothesis, between-network connections of the FPC at rest predicted the age-related reduction in connectivity within the DMN. There was no age difference in within-network FC during the task (after removing the specific task effect), but between-network connections were greater in older adults than in young adults for the FPC and dorsal attention network. In addition, age reductions were found in almost all the graph metrics during the task condition, including clustering and modularity. Finally, age differences in between-network connectivity of the FPC during both rest and task predicted cognitive performance. These findings provide additional evidence of less within-network but greater between-network FC in older adults during rest but also show that these age differences can be altered by the residual influence of task demands on background connectivity. Our results also support a role for the FPC as the regulator of other brain networks in the service of cognition. Critically, the link between age differences in inter-network connections of the FPC and DMN connectivity, and the link between FPC connectivity and performance, support the hypothesis that FC of the FPC influences the expression of age differences in other networks, as well as differences in cognitive function. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rehabilitation Outcomes: Ischemic versus Hemorrhagic Strokes.

PubMed

Perna, Robert; Temple, Jessica

2015-01-01

Background. Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes have different pathophysiologies and possibly different long-term cerebral and functional implications. Hemorrhagic strokes expose the brain to irritating effects of blood and ischemic strokes reflect localized or diffuse cerebral vascular pathology. Methods. Participants were individuals who suffered either an ischemic (n = 172) or hemorrhagic stroke (n = 112) within the past six months and were involved in a postacute neurorehabilitation program. Participants completed three months of postacute neurorehabilitation and the Mayo Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 (MPAI-4) at admission and discharge. Admission MPAI-4 scores and level of functioning were comparable. Results. Group ANOVA comparisons show no significant group differences at admission or discharge or difference in change scores. Both groups showed considerably reduced levels of productivity/employment after discharge as compared to preinjury levels. Conclusions. Though the pathophysiology of these types of strokes is different, both ultimately result in ischemic injuries, possibly accounting for lack of findings of differences between groups. In the present study, participants in both groups experienced similar functional levels across all three MPAI-4 domains both at admission and discharge. Limitations of this study include a highly educated sample and few outcome measures.

Components of executive functioning in metamemory.

PubMed

Mäntylä, Timo; Rönnlund, Michael; Kliegel, Matthias

2010-10-01

This study examined metamemory in relation to three basic executive functions (set shifting, working memory updating, and response inhibition) measured as latent variables. Young adults (Experiment 1) and middle-aged adults (Experiment 2) completed a set of executive functioning tasks and the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ). In Experiment 1, source recall and face recognition tasks were included as indicators of objective memory performance. In both experiments, analyses of the executive functioning data yielded a two-factor solution, with the updating and inhibition tasks constituting a common factor and the shifting tasks a separate factor. Self-reported memory problems showed low predictive validity, but subjective and objective memory performance were related to different components of executive functioning. In both experiments, set shifting, but not updating and inhibition, was related to PRMQ, whereas source recall showed the opposite pattern of correlations in Experiment 1. These findings suggest that metamemorial judgments reflect selective effects of executive functioning and that individual differences in mental flexibility contribute to self-beliefs of efficacy.

Effect of the Masako maneuver and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on the improvement of swallowing function in patients with dysphagia caused by stroke

PubMed Central

Byeon, Haewon

2016-01-01

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to compare improvements in swallowing function by the intervention of the Masako maneuver and neuromuscular electrical stimulation in patients with dysphagia caused by stroke. [Subjects and Methods] The Masako maneuver (n=23) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (n=24) were conducted in 47 patients with dysphagia caused by stroke over a period of 4 weeks. Swallowing recovery was recorded using the functional dysphagia scale based on videofluoroscopic studies. [Results] Mean functional dysphagia scale values for the Masako maneuver and neuromuscular electrical stimulation groups decreased after the treatments. However, the pre-post functional dysphagia scale values showed no statistically significant differences between the groups. [Conclusion] The Masako maneuver and neuromuscular electrical stimulation each showed significant effects on the improvement of swallowing function for the patients with dysphagia caused by stroke, but no significant difference was observed between the two treatment methods. PMID:27512266

Effect of photon energy spectrum on dosimetric parameters of brachytherapy sources.

PubMed

Ghorbani, Mahdi; Mehrpouyan, Mohammad; Davenport, David; Ahmadi Moghaddas, Toktam

2016-06-01

The aim of this study is to quantify the influence of the photon energy spectrum of brachytherapy sources on task group No. 43 (TG-43) dosimetric parameters. Different photon spectra are used for a specific radionuclide in Monte Carlo simulations of brachytherapy sources. MCNPX code was used to simulate 125I, 103Pd, 169Yb, and 192Ir brachytherapy sources. Air kerma strength per activity, dose rate constant, radial dose function, and two dimensional (2D) anisotropy functions were calculated and isodose curves were plotted for three different photon energy spectra. The references for photon energy spectra were: published papers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC). The data calculated by these photon energy spectra were compared. Dose rate constant values showed a maximum difference of 24.07% for 103Pd source with different photon energy spectra. Radial dose function values based on different spectra were relatively the same. 2D anisotropy function values showed minor differences in most of distances and angles. There was not any detectable difference between the isodose contours. Dosimetric parameters obtained with different photon spectra were relatively the same, however it is suggested that more accurate and updated photon energy spectra be used in Monte Carlo simulations. This would allow for calculation of reliable dosimetric data for source modeling and calculation in brachytherapy treatment planning systems.

Effect of photon energy spectrum on dosimetric parameters of brachytherapy sources

PubMed Central

Ghorbani, Mahdi; Davenport, David

2016-01-01

Abstract Aim The aim of this study is to quantify the influence of the photon energy spectrum of brachytherapy sources on task group No. 43 (TG-43) dosimetric parameters. Background Different photon spectra are used for a specific radionuclide in Monte Carlo simulations of brachytherapy sources. Materials and methods MCNPX code was used to simulate 125I, 103Pd, 169Yb, and 192Ir brachytherapy sources. Air kerma strength per activity, dose rate constant, radial dose function, and two dimensional (2D) anisotropy functions were calculated and isodose curves were plotted for three different photon energy spectra. The references for photon energy spectra were: published papers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC). The data calculated by these photon energy spectra were compared. Results Dose rate constant values showed a maximum difference of 24.07% for 103Pd source with different photon energy spectra. Radial dose function values based on different spectra were relatively the same. 2D anisotropy function values showed minor differences in most of distances and angles. There was not any detectable difference between the isodose contours. Conclusions Dosimetric parameters obtained with different photon spectra were relatively the same, however it is suggested that more accurate and updated photon energy spectra be used in Monte Carlo simulations. This would allow for calculation of reliable dosimetric data for source modeling and calculation in brachytherapy treatment planning systems. PMID:27247558

Sensory processes modulate differences in multi-component behavior and cognitive control between childhood and adulthood.

PubMed

Gohil, Krutika; Bluschke, Annet; Roessner, Veit; Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Beste, Christian

2017-10-01

Many everyday tasks require executive functions to achieve a certain goal. Quite often, this requires the integration of information derived from different sensory modalities. Children are less likely to integrate information from different modalities and, at the same time, also do not command fully developed executive functions, as compared to adults. Yet still, the role of developmental age-related effects on multisensory integration processes has not been examined within the context of multicomponent behavior until now (i.e., the concatenation of different executive subprocesses). This is problematic because differences in multisensory integration might actually explain a significant amount of the developmental effects that have traditionally been attributed to changes in executive functioning. In a system, neurophysiological approach combining electroencephaloram (EEG) recordings and source localization analyses, we therefore examined this question. The results show that differences in how children and adults accomplish multicomponent behavior do not solely depend on developmental differences in executive functioning. Instead, the observed developmental differences in response selection processes (reflected by the P3 ERP) were largely dependent on the complexity of integrating temporally separated stimuli from different modalities. This effect was related to activation differences in medial frontal and inferior parietal cortices. Primary perceptual gating or attentional selection processes (P1 and N1 ERPs) were not affected. The results show that differences in multisensory integration explain parts of transformations in cognitive processes between childhood and adulthood that have traditionally been attributed to changes in executive functioning, especially when these require the integration of multiple modalities during response selection. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4933-4945, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Functional diversity of fish in tropical estuaries: A traits-based approach of communities in Pernambuco, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva-Júnior, C. A. B.; Mérigot, B.; Lucena-Frédou, F.; Ferreira, B. P.; Coxey, M. S.; Rezende, S. M.; Frédou, T.

2017-11-01

Environmental changes and human activities may have strong impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. While biodiversity is traditionally based on species richness and composition, there is a growing concern to take into account functional diversity to assess and manage species communities. In spite of their economic importance, functional diversity quantified by a traits-based approach is still poorly documented in tropical estuaries. In this study, the functional diversity of fishes was investigated within four estuaries in Pernambuco state, northeast of Brazil. These areas are subject to different levels of human impact (e.g. mangrove deforestation, shrimp farming, fishing etc.) and environmental conditions. Fishes were collected during 34 scientific surveys. A total of 122 species were identified and 12 functional traits were quantified describing two main functions: food acquisition and locomotion. Fish abundance and functional dissimilarities data were combined into a multivariate analysis, the Double Principal Coordinate Analysis, to identify the functional typology of fish assemblages according to the estuary. Results showed that Itapissuma, the largest estuary with a wider mangrove forest area, differs from the other three estuaries, showing higher mean values per samples of species richness S and quadratic entropy Q. Similarly, it presented a different functional typology (the first two axes of the DPCoA account for 68.7% of total inertia, while those of a traditional PCA based solely on species abundances provided only 17.4%). Conversely, Suape, Sirinhaém, and to a lower extent Rio Formoso, showed more similarity in their diversity. This result was attributed to their predominantly marine influenced hydrological features, and similar levels of species abundances and in morphological traits. Overall, this study, combining diversity indices and a recent multivariate analysis to access species contribution to functional typology, allows to deepen diversity assessment by providing additional information regarding the functional pattern of fish assemblages.

European validation of The Comprehensive International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Set for Osteoarthritis from the perspective of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip.

PubMed

Weigl, Martin; Wild, Heike

2017-09-15

To validate the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Comprehensive Core Set for Osteoarthritis from the patient perspective in Europe. This multicenter cross-sectional study involved 375 patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis. Trained health professionals completed the Comprehensive Core Set, and patients completed the Short-Form 36 questionnaire. Content validity was evaluated by calculating prevalences of impairments in body function and structures, limitations in activities and participation and environmental factors, which were either barriers or facilitators. Convergent construct validity was evaluated by correlating the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health categories with the Short-Form 36 Physical Component Score and the SF-36 Mental Component Score in a subgroup of 259 patients. The prevalences of all body function, body structure and activities and participation categories were >40%, >32% and >20%, respectively, and all environmental factors were relevant for >16% of patients. Few categories showed relevant differences between knee and hip osteoarthritis. All body function categories and all but two activities and participation categories showed significant correlations with the Physical Component Score. Body functions from the ICF chapter Mental Functions showed higher correlations with the Mental Component Score than with the Physical Component Score. This study supports the validity of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Comprehensive Core Set for Osteoarthritis. Implications for Rehabilitation Comprehensive International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets were developed as practical tools for application in multidisciplinary assessments. The validity of the Comprehensive International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Set for Osteoarthritis in this study supports its application in European patients with osteoarthritis. The differences in results between this Europe validation study and a previous Singaporean validation study underscore the need to validate the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets in different regions of the world.

Using phylogeny and functional traits for assessing community assembly along environmental gradients: A deterministic process driven by elevation.

PubMed

Xu, Jinshi; Chen, Yu; Zhang, Lixia; Chai, Yongfu; Wang, Mao; Guo, Yaoxin; Li, Ting; Yue, Ming

2017-07-01

Community assembly processes is the primary focus of community ecology. Using phylogenetic-based and functional trait-based methods jointly to explore these processes along environmental gradients are useful ways to explain the change of assembly mechanisms under changing world. Our study combined these methods to test assembly processes in wide range gradients of elevation and other habitat environmental factors. We collected our data at 40 plots in Taibai Mountain, China, with more than 2,300 m altitude difference in study area and then measured traits and environmental factors. Variance partitioning was used to distinguish the main environment factors leading to phylogeny and traits change among 40 plots. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to colligate other environment factors. Community assembly patterns along environmental gradients based on phylogenetic and functional methods were studied for exploring assembly mechanisms. Phylogenetic signal was calculated for each community along environmental gradients in order to detect the variation of trait performance on phylogeny. Elevation showed a better explanatory power than other environment factors for phylogenetic and most traits' variance. Phylogenetic and several functional structure clustered at high elevation while some conserved traits overdispersed. Convergent tendency which might be caused by filtering or competition along elevation was detected based on functional traits. Leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and leaf nitrogen content along PCA 1 axis showed conflicting patterns comparing to patterns showed on elevation. LDMC exhibited the strongest phylogenetic signal. Only the phylogenetic signal of maximum plant height showed explicable change along environmental gradients. Synthesis . Elevation is the best environment factors for predicting phylogeny and traits change. Plant's phylogenetic and some functional structures show environmental filtering in alpine region while it shows different assembly processes in middle- and low-altitude region by different trait/phylogeny. The results highlight deterministic processes dominate community assembly in large-scale environmental gradients. Performance of phylogeny and traits along gradients may be independent with each other. The novel method for calculating functional structure which we used in this study and the focus of phylogenetic signal change along gradients may provide more useful ways to detect community assembly mechanisms.

Cognitive impact after short-term exposure to different proton pump inhibitors: assessment using CANTAB software.

PubMed

Akter, Sanjida; Hassan, Md Rajib; Shahriar, Mohammad; Akter, Nahia; Abbas, Md Golam; Bhuiyan, Mohiuddin Ahmed

2015-12-27

Studies have shown that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increase the brain burden of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and also create vitamin B12 deficiency. However, these two phenomena have deleterious effect on cognition and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since the use of PPIs has increased tremendously for the last few years, it is of great public health importance to investigate the cognitive impact of PPIs. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of neuropsychological association of each PPI with different cognitive functions. Sixty volunteers of either gender were recruited and divided randomly into six groups: five test groups for five classes of PPIs and one control group. All the groups participated in the five computerized neuropsychological tests (nine subtests) of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery twice: at the beginning of the study and 7 days thereafter. We found statistically and clinically significant impairment in visual memory, attention, executive function, and working and planning function. One-way analysis of variance findings showed that all PPIs had a similar negative impact on cognition. However, paired-samples t tests indicated that omeprazole showed significant (p < 0.05) results in seven subtests; lansoprazole and pantoprazole showed significant results in five subtests; and rabeprazole showed significant results in four subtests. Among five classes of PPIs, esomeprazole showed comparatively less impact on cognitive function with significant results in three subtests. The present study reveals for the first time that different PPIs have varying degrees of influence on different cognitive domains and have associations with AD. These findings should be considered when balancing the risks and benefits of prescribing these medications. A study done for a longer period of time with a larger sample size might yield better results.

Spousal associations between functional limitation and depressive symptom trajectories: Longitudinal findings from the study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD).

PubMed

Hoppmann, Christiane A; Gerstorf, Denis; Hibbert, Anita

2011-03-01

To examine spousal associations between functional limitation and depressive symptom trajectories in a national sample of older long-term married couples. We used 14.5-year longitudinal data on functional limitations and depressive symptoms from 1,704 couples participating in the Study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD). Activities of daily living and a short version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale were used. Between-person difference findings corroborate previous research by showing that levels and changes in functional limitations and depressive symptoms are closely interrelated among wives and husbands. Our results further demonstrate sizable associations in levels and changes in functional limitations and depressive symptoms between spouses. For example, functional limitation levels in one spouse were associated with depressive symptom levels in the other spouse. Spousal associations remained after controlling for individual (age, education, cognition) and spousal covariates (marriage duration, number of children) and did not differ between women and men. Our findings highlight the important role of marital relationships in shaping health trajectories in old age because they show that some of the well-documented between-person differences in functional limitations and depressive symptoms are in fact related to spouses. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Velocity and stress autocorrelation decay in isothermal dissipative particle dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaudhri, Anuj; Lukes, Jennifer R.

2010-02-01

The velocity and stress autocorrelation decay in a dissipative particle dynamics ideal fluid model is analyzed in this paper. The autocorrelation functions are calculated at three different friction parameters and three different time steps using the well-known Groot/Warren algorithm and newer algorithms including self-consistent leap-frog, self-consistent velocity Verlet and Shardlow first and second order integrators. At low friction values, the velocity autocorrelation function decays exponentially at short times, shows slower-than exponential decay at intermediate times, and approaches zero at long times for all five integrators. As friction value increases, the deviation from exponential behavior occurs earlier and is more pronounced. At small time steps, all the integrators give identical decay profiles. As time step increases, there are qualitative and quantitative differences between the integrators. The stress correlation behavior is markedly different for the algorithms. The self-consistent velocity Verlet and the Shardlow algorithms show very similar stress autocorrelation decay with change in friction parameter, whereas the Groot/Warren and leap-frog schemes show variations at higher friction factors. Diffusion coefficients and shear viscosities are calculated using Green-Kubo integration of the velocity and stress autocorrelation functions. The diffusion coefficients match well-known theoretical results at low friction limits. Although the stress autocorrelation function is different for each integrator, fluctuates rapidly, and gives poor statistics for most of the cases, the calculated shear viscosities still fall within range of theoretical predictions and nonequilibrium studies.

Variation in Major Depressive Disorder Onset by Place of Origin Among U.S. Latinos.

PubMed

Lee, Sungkyu; Park, Yangjin

2017-09-01

Using a nationally representative sample of 2514 U.S. Latinos, this study examined the extent to which major depressive disorder (MDD) onset differs by place of origin and the factors associated with it. The Kaplan-Meier method estimated the survival and hazard functions for MDD onset by place of origin, and Cox proportional hazards models identified its associative factors. Approximately 13% of the sample had experienced MDD in their lifetimes. Cuban respondents showed the highest survival function, while Puerto Ricans showed the lowest. With the entire sample, the smoothed hazard function showed that the risk of MDD onset peaked in the late 20s and early 80s. Puerto Rican respondents showed the highest risk of MDD during their 20s and 30s, whereas Cuban respondents showed a relatively stable pattern over time. The results from the Cox proportional hazards model indicated that age, sex, and marital status were significantly related to MDD onset (p < .05). In addition, the effect of U.S.-born status on MDD onset was greater among Mexican respondents than among Puerto Ricans. Findings from the present study demonstrate that different Latino subgroups experience different and unique patterns of MDD onset over time. Future research should account for the role of immigration status in examining MDD onset.

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: functional variance among individual cardiomyocytes as a trigger of FHC-phenotype development

PubMed Central

Brenner, Bernhard; Seebohm, Benjamin; Tripathi, Snigdha; Montag, Judith; Kraft, Theresia

2014-01-01

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) is the most frequent inherited cardiac disease. It has been related to numerous mutations in many sarcomeric and even some non-sarcomeric proteins. So far, however, no common mechanism has been identified by which the many different mutations in different sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric proteins trigger development of the FHC phenotype. Here we show for different MYH7 mutations variance in force pCa-relations from normal to highly abnormal as a feature common to all mutations we studied, while direct functional effects of the different FHC-mutations, e.g., on force generation, ATPase or calcium sensitivity of the contractile system, can be quite different. The functional variation among individual M. soleus fibers of FHC-patients is accompanied by large variation in mutant vs. wildtype β-MyHC-mRNA. Preliminary results show a similar variation in mutant vs. wildtype β-MyHC-mRNA among individual cardiomyocytes. We discuss our previously proposed concept as to how different mutations in the β-MyHC and possibly other sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric proteins may initiate an FHC-phenotype by functional variation among individual cardiomyocytes that results in structural distortions within the myocardium, leading to cellular and myofibrillar disarray. In addition, distortions can activate stretch-sensitive signaling in cardiomyocytes and non-myocyte cells which is known to induce cardiac remodeling with interstitial fibrosis and hypertrophy. Such a mechanism will have major implications for therapeutic strategies to prevent FHC-development, e.g., by reducing functional imbalances among individual cardiomyocytes or by inhibition of their triggering of signaling paths initiating remodeling. Targeting increased or decreased contractile function would require selective targeting of mutant or wildtype protein to reduce functional imbalances. PMID:25346696

Functional brain networks associated with eating behaviors in obesity.

PubMed

Park, Bo-Yong; Seo, Jongbum; Park, Hyunjin

2016-03-31

Obesity causes critical health problems including diabetes and hypertension that affect billions of people worldwide. Obesity and eating behaviors are believed to be closely linked but their relationship through brain networks has not been fully explored. We identified functional brain networks associated with obesity and examined how the networks were related to eating behaviors. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were obtained for 82 participants. Data were from an equal number of people of healthy weight (HW) and non-healthy weight (non-HW). Connectivity matrices were computed with spatial maps derived using a group independent component analysis approach. Brain networks and associated connectivity parameters with significant group-wise differences were identified and correlated with scores on a three-factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ) describing restraint, disinhibition, and hunger eating behaviors. Frontoparietal and cerebellum networks showed group-wise differences between HW and non-HW groups. Frontoparietal network showed a high correlation with TFEQ disinhibition scores. Both frontoparietal and cerebellum networks showed a high correlation with body mass index (BMI) scores. Brain networks with significant group-wise differences between HW and non-HW groups were identified. Parts of the identified networks showed a high correlation with eating behavior scores.

Hybrid function projective synchronization in complex dynamical networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wei, Qiang; Wang, Xing-yuan, E-mail: wangxy@dlut.edu.cn; Hu, Xiao-peng

2014-02-15

This paper investigates hybrid function projective synchronization in complex dynamical networks. When the complex dynamical networks could be synchronized up to an equilibrium or periodic orbit, a hybrid feedback controller is designed to realize the different component of vector of node could be synchronized up to different desired scaling function in complex dynamical networks with time delay. Hybrid function projective synchronization (HFPS) in complex dynamical networks with constant delay and HFPS in complex dynamical networks with time-varying coupling delay are researched, respectively. Finally, the numerical simulations show the effectiveness of theoretical analysis.

Distinct Cytokine and Chemokine Profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Han, Yvonne M. Y.; Cheung, Winnie K. Y.; Wong, Chun Kwok; Sze, Sophia L.; Cheng, Timmy W. S.; Yeung, Michael K.; Chan, Agnes S.

2017-01-01

Previous studies have shown that immunological factors are involved in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, this research has been conducted almost exclusively in Western contexts, and only a handful of studies on immune measures have been conducted in Asian populations, such as Chinese populations. The present study examined whether immunological abnormalities are associated with cognitive deficits and problem behaviors in Chinese children with ASD and whether these children show different immunological profiles. Thirteen typically developing (TD) children and 22 children with ASD, aged 6–17 years, participated voluntarily in the study. Executive functions and short-term memory were measured using neuropsychological tests, and behavioral measures were assessed using parent ratings. The children were also assessed on immunological measures, specifically, the levels of cytokines and chemokines in the blood serum. Children with ASD showed greater deficits in cognitive functions, as well as altered levels of immunological measures, including CCL2, CCL5, and CXCL9 levels, compared to TD children, and the cognitive functions and associated behavioral deficits of children with ASD were significantly associated with different immunological measures. The children were further sub-classified into ASD with only autistic features (ASD-only) or ASD comorbid with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ASD + ADHD). The comorbidity results showed that there were no differences between the two groups of ASD children in any of the cognitive or behavioral measures. However, the results pertaining to immunological measures showed that the children with ASD-only and ASD + ADHD exhibited distinct cytokine and chemokine profiles and that abnormal immunologic function was associated with cognitive functions and inattention/hyperactivity symptoms. These results support the notion that altered immune functions may play a role in the selective cognitive and behavioral symptoms of ASD. PMID:28167942

Comparing the Certification Criteria for CCHIT-Certified Ambulatory EHR with the SNUBH's EHR Functionalities

PubMed Central

Heo, Eun Young; Hwang, Hee; Kim, Eun Hye; Cho, Eun Young; Lee, Kee Hyuck; Kim, Tae Hun; Kim, Ki Dong; Baek, Rong Min

2012-01-01

Objectives This study aims to investigate the suitability of electronic health record (EHR) systems in Korea for global certification and to propose functions for future global systems by comparing and analyzing the certification criteria for Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) Certified Ambulatory EHR with BESTCare, which is the EHR system at Seoul National University Bundang hospital. Methods Domain expert groups were formed to analyze the inclusion of BESTCare functions and the types of differences for each of the CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR Certification Criteria. The types of differences were divided into differences in functions (F), differences in business processes (B), and differences in government policies (P). Results Generally, the criteria that showed differences in functions pertained to the connection between the diagnosis/problem list and order, the alert and warning functions for medication-diagnosis interactions, and the reminder/instruction/notification messages related to the patient's immunization status; these absent functions were enhanced clinical decision support system (CDSS) functions related to patient safety and healthcare quality. Differences in government policies were found in the pharmacy's electronic prescription functions, while differences in business processes were found in the functions constrained by the local workflow or internal policy, which require some customization. Conclusions Functions that differed between the CCHIT certification criteria and the BESTCare system in this study should be considered when developing a global EHR system. Such a system will need to be easily customizable to adapt to various government policies and local business processes. These functions should be considered when developing a global EHR system certified by CCHIT in the future. PMID:22509474

Different kernel functions due to rainfall response from borehole strainmeter in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yen Chen, Chih; Hu, Jyr Ching; LIu, Chi Ching

2014-05-01

In order to realize reasons inducing earthquakes, project of monitoring of the fault activity using 3-component Gladwin Tensor Strainmeter (GTSM) has been initiated since 2003 in Taiwan, which is one of the most active seismic regions in the world. Observed strain contains several different effects within including barometric, tidal, groundwater, precipitation, tectonics, seismic and other irregular noise. After removing the response of tides and air pressure on strain, we still can find some anomalies highly related to the rainfall in short time in days. The strain response induced by rainfall can be separated into two parts as observation in groundwater, slow response and quick response, respectively. Quick response reflects the strain responding to the load of falling water drops on the ground surface. A kernel function shows the continual response induced by unit precipitation water in time domain. We split the quick response from data removing tidal and barometric response, and then calculate the kernel function by use of deconvolution method. More, an average kernel function was calculated to reduce the noise level. There are five of the sites installed by CGS Taiwan were selected to calculate kernel functions for individual sites. The results show there may be different on rainfall response in different environmental settings. In the case of stations site on gentle terrain, kernel function for each site shows the similar trend, it rises quickly to maximum in 1 to 2 hrs, and then goes down near to zero gently in period of 2-3 days. But in the case of sites settled side by the rivers, there will be 2nd peak of function when collected water in the catchment flows along by the sites related to the hydrograph of creeks. More, landslides will occur in some sites in hazard of landslide with more rainfall stored on, just like DARB in ChiaYi. The curve of kernel function will be controlled by landslides and debris flows.

Repolarization of hepatocytes in culture.

PubMed

Talamini, M A; Kappus, B; Hubbard, A

1997-01-01

We have evaluated the biochemical, morphological, and functional redevelopment of polarity in freshly isolated hepatocytes cultured using a double layer collagen gel sandwich technique. Western blot analysis showed increased cellular levels of the cell adhesion protein uvomorulin as cultured hepatocytes repolarized. Immunofluorescence studies using antibodies against domain-specific membrane proteins showed polarity as early as 48 hours, although the pattern of the polymeric Immunoglobulin-A receptor (pIgA-R) differed from in vivo liver. Electron microscopy showed developing bile canaliculi at 1 day. However, the functional presence of tight junctions was absent at 1 day, but present at 5 days. We further showed functional polarity to be present at 4 days by documenting the ability of cultured hepatocytes to metabolize and excrete fluorescein diacetate into visible bile canaliculi. We conclude that hepatocytes cultured appropriately develop morphological and functional polarity. Hepatocyte culture is therefore a useful tool for the study of mechanisms responsible for the development of polarized function.

The relationship between executive functions and IQ in Korean children and the comparison with Chinese children.

PubMed

Song, Hyunjoo; Jinyu, An

2017-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived/performance-based executive function and IQ. Additionally, the relationship between perceived executive function and intelligence was investigated cross-culturally between South Korea and China. Korean children (60; M = 34, F = 26, Mean age = 10.35) were included in study 1, and Korean children (43, M = 23, F = 20, Mean age = 10.05) and Chinese children (56; M = 29, F = 27, Mean age = 10.40) were included in study 2. The Korean-Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV, the Stroop test, the CTT-2, and the executive function questionnaire were used for Korean subjects, and the Raven's matrix test and the executive function questionnaire were used for Korean and Chinese subjects. Multiple regression showed that CTT-2(RT), emotional control difficulty, and Color Word within a 45' Stroop test trial were significant predictors of total IQ. The cross-cultural analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the two countries in the emotional control aspect of perceived executive function. There were no interactions between country and intelligence. In conclusion, intelligence was related to overall executive function. Korean children and Chinese children showed cultural differences in processing emotion. These results are expected to contribute to developing therapeutic strategies for executive function in children and to exchanging these strategies between Korea and China.

Functional chest pain responds to biofeedback treatment but functional heartburn does not: what is the difference?

PubMed

Shapiro, Michael; Shanani, Ram; Taback, Hanna; Abramowich, Dov; Scapa, Eitan; Broide, Efrat

2012-06-01

Patients with functional esophageal disorders represent a challenging treatment group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of biofeedback in the treatment of patients with functional esophageal disorders. In this prospective study, patients with typical/atypical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease underwent upper endoscopy and 24-h pH monitoring. All patients filled out gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptom, Hospital Anxiety and Depression, and Symptom Stress Rating questionnaires. Patients with functional heartburn and those with functional chest pain were offered biofeedback treatment. A global assessment questionnaire was filled out at the end of treatment and then 2.8 (range 1-4) years later. From January 2006 to December 2009, 22 patients with functional esophageal diseases were included in the study. Thirteen had functional heartburn and nine had functional chest pain. Six patients from each group received biofeedback treatment. After treatment for 1-4 years, patients with functional chest pain showed significant improvements in symptoms compared with those who were not treated. Patients with functional heartburn showed no improvement. Patients with functional chest pain had a longer time of esophageal acid exposure than those with functional heartburn. Patients with functional chest pain have different central and intraesophageal factors associated with symptom generation in comparison with patients with functional heartburn. Biofeedback is a useful tool in the treatment of patients with functional chest pain, but not for those with functional heartburn.

Differences between child and adult large-scale functional brain networks for reading tasks.

PubMed

Liu, Xin; Gao, Yue; Di, Qiqi; Hu, Jiali; Lu, Chunming; Nan, Yun; Booth, James R; Liu, Li

2018-02-01

Reading is an important high-level cognitive function of the human brain, requiring interaction among multiple brain regions. Revealing differences between children's large-scale functional brain networks for reading tasks and those of adults helps us to understand how the functional network changes over reading development. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 17 adults (19-28 years old) and 16 children (11-13 years old), and graph theoretical analyses to investigate age-related changes in large-scale functional networks during rhyming and meaning judgment tasks on pairs of visually presented Chinese characters. We found that: (1) adults had stronger inter-regional connectivity and nodal degree in occipital regions, while children had stronger inter-regional connectivity in temporal regions, suggesting that adults rely more on visual orthographic processing whereas children rely more on auditory phonological processing during reading. (2) Only adults showed between-task differences in inter-regional connectivity and nodal degree, whereas children showed no task differences, suggesting the topological organization of adults' reading network is more specialized. (3) Children showed greater inter-regional connectivity and nodal degree than adults in multiple subcortical regions; the hubs in children were more distributed in subcortical regions while the hubs in adults were more distributed in cortical regions. These findings suggest that reading development is manifested by a shift from reliance on subcortical to cortical regions. Taken together, our study suggests that Chinese reading development is supported by developmental changes in brain connectivity properties, and some of these changes may be domain-general while others may be specific to the reading domain. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of Deviated Nasal Septum Type on Nasal Mucociliary Clearance, Olfactory Function, Quality of Life, and Efficiency of Nasal Surgery.

PubMed

Berkiten, Güler; Kumral, Tolgar Lütfi; Saltürk, Ziya; Atar, Yavuz; Yildirim, Güven; Uyar, Yavuz; Aydoğdu, Imran; Arslanoğlu, Ahmet

2016-07-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of deviated nasal septum (DNS) type on nasal mucociliary clearance, quality of life (QoL), olfactory function, and efficiency of nasal surgery (septoplasty with or without inferior turbinate reduction and partial middle turbinectomy). Fifty patients (20 females and 30 males) with septal deviation were included in the study and were divided into 6 groups according to deviation type after examination by nasal endoscopy and paranasal computed tomography. The saccharin clearance test to evaluate the nasal mucociliary clearance time, Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center smell test for olfactory function, and sinonasal outcome test-22 (SNOT-22) for patient satisfaction were applied preoperatively and postoperatively at the sixth week after surgery. Nasal mucociliary clearance, smell, and SNOT-22 scores were measured before surgery and at the sixth week following surgery. No significant difference was found in olfactory and SNOT-22 scores for any of the DNS types (both convex and concave sides) (P > 0.05). In addition, there was no difference in the saccharin clearance time (SCT) of the concave and convex sides (P > 0.05). According to the DNS type, the mean SCT of the convex sides showed no difference, but that of the concave sides showed a difference in types 3, 4, 5, and 6. These types had a prolonged SCT (P < 0.05). Olfactory scores revealed no difference postoperatively in types 5 and 6 but were decreased significantly in types 1 to 4 (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the healing of both the mucociliary clearance (MCC) and olfactory functions. SNOT-22 results showed a significant decrease in type 3. All DNS types disturb the QoL regarding nasal MCC and olfaction functions. MCC values, olfactory function, and QoL scores are similar among the DNS types. Both sides of the DNS types affect the MCC scores symmetrically. Septal surgery improves olfaction function and QoL at the sixth week following surgery but disturbs nasal MCC; thus, the sixth week is too early to assess nasal MCC.

Gait Parameters and Functional Outcomes After Total Knee Arthroplasty Using Persona Knee System With Cruciate Retaining and Ultracongruent Knee Inserts.

PubMed

Rajgopal, Ashok; Aggarwal, Kalpana; Khurana, Anshika; Rao, Arun; Vasdev, Attique; Pandit, Hemant

2017-01-01

Total knee arthroplasty is a well-established treatment for managing end-stage symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Currently, different designs of prostheses are available with majority ensuring similar clinical outcomes. Altered surface geometry is introduced to strive toward gaining superior outcomes. We aimed to investigate any differences in functional outcomes between 2 different polyethylene designs namely the Persona CR (cruciate retaining) and Persona UC (ultracongruent) tibial inserts (Zimmer-Biomet, Warsaw, IN). This prospective single blind, single-surgeon randomized controlled trial reports on 105 patients, (66 female and 39 male), who underwent simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty using the Persona knee system (Zimmer-Biomet) UC inserts in one side and CR inserts in the contralateral side. By a blind assessor, at regular time intervals patients were assessed in terms of function and gait. The functional knee scoring scales used were the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and Modified Knee Society Score. The gait parameters evaluated were foot pressure and step length. During the study period, no patient was lost to follow-up or underwent revision surgery for any cause. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores, Modified Knee Society Score, and knee range of motion of all 105 patients assessed preoperatively and postoperatively at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years showed statistically better results (P < .05) for UC inserts. Gait analysis measuring foot pressures and step length, however, did not show any statistically significant differences at 2-year follow-up. Ultracongruent tibial inserts show significantly better functional outcomes as compared to CR inserts during a 2-year follow-up period. However, in this study these findings were not shown to be attributed to differences in gait parameters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Later Life Changes in Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Behavioral Functions After Low-Dose Prenatal Irradiation at Early Organogenesis Stage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ganapathi, Ramya; Manda, Kailash, E-mail: kailashmanda@gmail.com

Purpose: To investigate long-term changes in behavioral functions of mice after exposure to low-dose prenatal radiation at an early organogenesis stage. Methods and Materials: Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were irradiated (20 cGy) at postcoitus day 5.5. The male and female offspring were subjected to different behavioral assays for affective, motor, and cognitive functions at 3, 6, and 12 months of age. Behavioral functions were further correlated with the population of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons and immature neurons in hippocampal dentate gyrus. Results: Prenatally exposed mice of different age groups showed a sex-specific pattern of sustained changes in behavioral functions. Male mice showed significantmore » changes in anxiety-like phenotypes, learning, and long-term memory at age 3 months. At 6 months of age such behavioral functions were recovered to a normal level but could not be sustained at age 12 months. Female mice showed an appreciable recovery in almost all behavioral functions at 12 months. Patterns of change in learning and long-term memory were comparable to the population of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons and doublecortin-positive neurons in hippocampus. Conclusion: Our finding suggests that prenatal (early organogenesis stage) irradiation even at a lower dose level (20 cGy) is sufficient to cause potential changes in neurobehavioral function at later stages of life. Male mice showed relatively higher vulnerability to radiation-induced neurobehavioral changes as compared with female.« less

Differences in Brain Activity during a Verbal Associative Memory Encoding Task in High- and Low-fit Adolescents

PubMed Central

Herting, Megan M.; Nagel, Bonnie J.

2013-01-01

Aerobic fitness is associated with better memory performance as well as larger volumes in memory-related brain regions in children, adolescents, and elderly. It is unclear if aerobic exercise also influences learning and memory functional neural circuitry. Here, we examine brain activity in 17 high-fit (HF) and 17 low-fit (LF) adolescents during a subsequent memory encoding paradigm using fMRI. Despite similar memory performance, HF and LF youth displayed a number of differences in memory-related and default mode (DMN) brain regions during encoding later remembered versus forgotten word pairs. Specifically, HF youth displayed robust deactivation in DMN areas, including the ventral medial PFC and posterior cingulate cortex, whereas LF youth did not show this pattern. Furthermore, LF youth showed greater bilateral hippocampal and right superior frontal gyrus activation during encoding of later remembered versus forgotten word pairs. Follow-up task-dependent functional correlational analyses showed differences in hippocampus and DMN activity coupling during successful encoding between the groups, suggesting aerobic fitness during adolescents may impact functional connectivity of the hippocampus and DMN during memory encoding. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the influence of aerobic fitness on hippocampal function and memory-related neural circuitry using fMRI. Taken together with previous research, these findings suggest aerobic fitness can influence not only memory-related brain structure, but also brain function. PMID:23249350

Differences in executive functioning between violent and non-violent offenders.

PubMed

Meijers, J; Harte, J M; Meynen, G; Cuijpers, P

2017-07-01

A growing body of neuropsychological and neurobiological research shows a relationship between functioning of the prefrontal cortex and criminal and violent behaviour. The prefrontal cortex is crucial for executive functions such as inhibition, attention, working memory, set-shifting and planning. A deficit in these functions - a prefrontal deficit - may result in antisocial, impulsive or even aggressive behaviour. While several meta-analyses show large effect sizes for the relationship between a prefrontal deficit, executive dysfunction and criminality, there are few studies investigating differences in executive functions between violent and non-violent offenders. Considering the relevance of identifying risk factors for violent offending, the current study explores whether a distinction between violent and non-violent offenders can be made using an extensive neuropsychological test battery. Male remand prisoners (N = 130) in Penitentiary Institution Amsterdam Over-Amstel were administered an extensive neuropsychological test battery (Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery; CANTAB) measuring response inhibition, planning, attention, set-shifting, working memory and impulsivity/reward sensitivity. Violent offenders performed significantly worse on the stop-signal task (partial correlation r = 0.205, p = 0.024), a task measuring response inhibition. No further differences were found between violent and non-violent offenders. Explorative analyses revealed a significant relationship between recidivism and planning (partial correlation r = -0.209, p = 0.016). Violent offenders show worse response inhibition compared to non-violent offenders, suggesting a more pronounced prefrontal deficit in violent offenders than in non-violent offenders.

Investigation of the adsorption of polymer chains on amine-functionalized double-walled carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Ansari, R; Ajori, S; Rouhi, S

2015-12-01

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to study the adsorption of different polymer chains on functionalized double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs). The nanotubes were functionalized with two different amines: NH2 (a small amine) and CH2-NH2 (a large amine). Considering three different polymer chains, all with the same number of atoms, the effect of polymer type on the polymer-nanotube interaction was studied. In general, it was found that covalent functionalization considerably improved the polymer-DWCNT interaction. By comparing the results obtained with different polymer chains, it was observed that, unlike polyethylene and polyketone, poly(styrene sulfonate) only weakly interacts with the functionalized DWCNTs. Accordingly, the smallest radius of gyration was obtained with adsorbed poly(styrene sulfonate). It was also observed that the DWCNTs functionalized with the large amine presented more stable interactions with polyketone and poly(styrene sulfonate) than with polyethylene, whereas the DWCNTs functionalized with the small amine showed better interfacial noncovalent bonding with polyethylene.

Conifer reproductive development involves B-type MADS-box genes with distinct and different activities in male organ primordia.

PubMed

Sundström, Jens; Engström, Peter

2002-07-01

The Norway spruce MADS-box genes DAL11, DAL12 and DAL13 are phylogenetically related to the angiosperm B-function MADS-box genes: genes that act together with A-function genes in specifying petal identity and with C-function genes in specifying stamen identity to floral organs. In this report we present evidence to suggest that the B-gene function in the specification of identity of the pollen-bearing organs has been conserved between conifers and angiosperms. Expression of DAL11 or DAL12 in transgenic Arabidopsis causes phenotypic changes which partly resemble those caused by ectopic expression of the endogenous B-genes. In similar experiments, flowers of Arabidopsis plants expressing DAL13 showed a different homeotic change in that they formed ectopic anthers in whorls one, two or four. We also demonstrate the capacity of the spruce gene products to form homodimers, and that DAL11 and DAL13 may form heterodimers with each other and with the Arabidopsis B-protein AP3, but not with PI, the second B-gene product in Arabidopsis. In situ hybridization experiments show that the conifer B-like genes are expressed specifically in developing pollen cones, but differ in both temporal and spatial distribution patterns. These results suggest that the B-function in conifers is dual and is separated into a meristem identity and an organ identity function, the latter function possibly being independent of an interaction with the C-function. Thus, even though an ancestral B-function may have acted in combination with C to specify micro- and megasporangia, the B-function has evolved differently in conifers and angiosperms.

Bacterial community and arsenic functional genes diversity in arsenic contaminated soils from different geographic locations

PubMed Central

Gu, Yunfu; D. Van Nostrand, Joy; Wu, Liyou; He, Zhili; Qin, Yujia; Zhao, Fang-Jie; Zhou, Jizhong

2017-01-01

To understand how soil microbial communities and arsenic (As) functional genes respond to soil arsenic (As) contamination, five soils contaminated with As at different levels were collected from diverse geographic locations, incubated for 54 days under flooded conditions, and examined by both MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons and functional gene microarray (GeoChip 4.0). The results showed that both bacterial community structure and As functional gene structure differed among geographical locations. The diversity of As functional genes correlated positively with the diversity of 16S rRNA genes (P< 0.05). Higher diversities of As functional genes and 16S rRNA genes were observed in the soils with higher available As. Soil pH, phosphate-extractable As, and amorphous Fe content were the most important factors in shaping the bacterial community structure and As transformation functional genes. Geographic location was also important in controlling both the bacterial community and As transformation functional potential. These findings provide insights into the variation of As transformation functional genes in soils contaminated with different levels of As at different geographic locations, and the impact of environmental As contamination on the soil bacterial community. PMID:28475654

[Effect of long-term fertilization on microbial community functional diversity in black soil].

PubMed

Liu, Jing-xin; Chi, Feng-qin; Xu, Xiu-hong; Kuang, En-jun; Zhang, Jiu-ming; Su, Qing-rui; Zhou, Bao-ku

2015-10-01

In order to study the effects of long-term different fertilization on microbial community functional diversity in arable black. soil, we examined microbial metabolic activities in two soil la- yers (0-20 cm, 20-40 cm) under four treatments (CK, NPK, M, MNPK) from a 35-year continuous fertilization field at the Ministry of Agriculture Key Field Observation Station of Harbin Black Soil Ecology Environment using Biolog-ECO method. The results showed that: in the 0-20 cm soil layer, combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizer(MNPK) increased the rate of soil microbial carbon source utilization and community metabolism richness, diversity and dominance; In the 20-40 cm layer, these indices of the MNPK treatment was lower than that of the NPK treat- ment; while NPK treatment decreased soil microbial community metabolism evenness in both layers. Six groups of carbon sources used by soil microbes of all the treatments were different between the two soil layers, and the difference was significant among all treatments in each soil layer (P < 0.05) , while the variations among treatments were different in the two soil layers. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that soil microbial community metabolic function of all the treatments was different between the two soil layers, and there was difference among all treatments in each soil layer, while the influences of soil nutrients on soil microbial community metabolic function of all treatments were similar in each soil layer. It was concluded that long-term different fertilization affected soil microbial community functional diversity in both tillage soil layer and down soil layers, and chemical fertilization alone had a larger influence on the microbial community functional diversity in the 20-40 cm layer.

Insights into distinct modulation of α7 and α7β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by the volatile anesthetic isoflurane.

PubMed

Mowrey, David D; Liu, Qiang; Bondarenko, Vasyl; Chen, Qiang; Seyoum, Edom; Xu, Yan; Wu, Jie; Tang, Pei

2013-12-13

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are targets of general anesthetics, but functional sensitivity to anesthetic inhibition varies dramatically among different subtypes of nAChRs. Potential causes underlying different functional responses to anesthetics remain elusive. Here we show that in contrast to the α7 nAChR, the α7β2 nAChR is highly susceptible to inhibition by the volatile anesthetic isoflurane in electrophysiology measurements. Isoflurane-binding sites in β2 and α7 were found at the extracellular and intracellular end of their respective transmembrane domains using NMR. Functional relevance of the identified β2 site was validated via point mutations and subsequent functional measurements. Consistent with their functional responses to isoflurane, β2 but not α7 showed pronounced dynamics changes, particularly for the channel gate residue Leu-249(9'). These results suggest that anesthetic binding alone is not sufficient to generate functional impact; only those sites that can modulate channel dynamics upon anesthetic binding will produce functional effects.

Characterization of Multiple Cytokine Combinations and TGF-β on Differentiation and Functions of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells

PubMed Central

Lee, Cho-Rong; Lee, Wongeun; Cho, Steve K.; Park, Sung-Gyoo

2018-01-01

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) regulate T cell immunity, and this population is a new therapeutic target for immune regulation. A previous study showed that transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is involved in controlling MDSC differentiation and immunoregulatory function in vivo. However, the direct effect of TGF-β on MDSCs with various cytokines has not previously been tested. Thus, we examined the effect of various cytokine combinations with TGF-β on MDSCs derived from bone marrow cells. The data show that different cytokine combinations affect the differentiation and immunosuppressive functions of MDSCs in different ways. In the presence of TGF-β, interleukin-6 (IL-6) was the most potent enhancer of MDSC function, whereas granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) was the most potent in the absence of TGF-β. In addition, IL-4 maintained MDSCs in an immature state with an increased expression of arginase 1 (Arg1). However, regardless of the cytokine combinations, TGF-β increased expansion of the monocytic MDSC (Mo-MDSC) population, expression of immunosuppressive molecules by MDSCs, and the ability of MDSCs to suppress CD4+ T cell proliferation. Thus, although different cytokine combinations affected the MDSCs in different ways, TGF-β directly affects monocytic-MDSCs (Mo-MDSCs) expansion and MDSCs functions. PMID:29543758

The impact of tropical forest logging and oil palm agriculture on the soil microbiome.

PubMed

Tripathi, Binu M; Edwards, David P; Mendes, Lucas William; Kim, Mincheol; Dong, Ke; Kim, Hyoki; Adams, Jonathan M

2016-05-01

Selective logging and forest conversion to oil palm agriculture are rapidly altering tropical forests. However, functional responses of the soil microbiome to these land-use changes are poorly understood. Using 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic sequencing, we compared composition and functional attributes of soil biota between unlogged, once-logged and twice-logged rainforest, and areas converted to oil palm plantations in Sabah, Borneo. Although there was no significant effect of logging history, we found a significant difference between the taxonomic and functional composition of both primary and logged forests and oil palm. Oil palm had greater abundances of genes associated with DNA, RNA, protein metabolism and other core metabolic functions, but conversely, lower abundance of genes associated with secondary metabolism and cell-cell interactions, indicating less importance of antagonism or mutualism in the more oligotrophic oil palm environment. Overall, these results show a striking difference in taxonomic composition and functional gene diversity of soil microorganisms between oil palm and forest, but no significant difference between primary forest and forest areas with differing logging history. This reinforces the view that logged forest retains most features and functions of the original soil community. However, networks based on strong correlations between taxonomy and functions showed that network complexity is unexpectedly increased due to both logging and oil palm agriculture, which suggests a pervasive effect of both land-use changes on the interaction of soil microbes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Differences in performance and learning proficiency on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in schizophrenia: do they reflect distinct neurocognitive subtypes with distinct functional profiles?

PubMed

Kurtz, Matthew M; Wexler, Bruce E

2006-01-31

The aim of this study was two-fold: 1) to determine whether a priori subtyping of patients with schizophrenia based on both overall performance on a measure of executive-function, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and ability to learn the task with expanded instruction, could be confirmed with other, independent measures of executive-function and learning, and, if so, 2) to determine whether these groups have different neurocognitive profiles and show differences in functional capacity. Fifty-four outpatients with schizophrenia were divided by WCST performance into three groups: intact executive-function (n=28), "good learner" (n=13), and "poor learner" (n=13) groups. These groups were then assessed with a comprehensive neurocognitive test battery and a performance-based measure of functional status, the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA). The WCST-intact subgroup performed significantly better than other groups on a second measure of executive-function and in working memory, and speeded motor sequencing. Impaired WCST patients who benefited from expanded WCST instruction ("good learners") also showed better performance than patients who did not benefit from instruction ("poor-learners") on a second measure of learning, as well as on a measure of auditory divided attention. The intact WCST subgroup had greater functional capacity than either "strong" or "poor" learners. These subtypes may have implications for response to behavioral treatment interventions.

Variation in trait trade-offs allows differentiation among predefined plant functional types: implications for predictive ecology.

PubMed

Verheijen, Lieneke M; Aerts, Rien; Bönisch, Gerhard; Kattge, Jens; Van Bodegom, Peter M

2016-01-01

Plant functional types (PFTs) aggregate the variety of plant species into a small number of functionally different classes. We examined to what extent plant traits, which reflect species' functional adaptations, can capture functional differences between predefined PFTs and which traits optimally describe these differences. We applied Gaussian kernel density estimation to determine probability density functions for individual PFTs in an n-dimensional trait space and compared predicted PFTs with observed PFTs. All possible combinations of 1-6 traits from a database with 18 different traits (total of 18 287 species) were tested. A variety of trait sets had approximately similar performance, and 4-5 traits were sufficient to classify up to 85% of the species into PFTs correctly, whereas this was 80% for a bioclimatically defined tree PFT classification. Well-performing trait sets included combinations of correlated traits that are considered functionally redundant within a single plant strategy. This analysis quantitatively demonstrates how structural differences between PFTs are reflected in functional differences described by particular traits. Differentiation between PFTs is possible despite large overlap in plant strategies and traits, showing that PFTs are differently positioned in multidimensional trait space. This study therefore provides the foundation for important applications for predictive ecology. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Thermal behaviors of Ni-MH batteries using a novel impedance spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Pu; Gao, Wenying; Qiu, Xinping; Zhu, Wentao; Sun, Jie; Chen, Liquan

In this paper, a novel impedance spectroscopy was used to describe the thermal behaviors of Ni-MH batteries. The impedance functions were derived similarly to electric impedance functions. The square of current was treated as a current equivalent and heat-flow as a voltage equivalent. The impedance spectra of batteries during charge showed that the combination of hydrogen and oxygen increased rapidly when charge rate was higher than 0.5 C. Thermal runaway might happen when battery was charged at temperature above 348 K even at a low charge rate. The cycling test showed that the charge efficiency of battery was the highest after cycling at high-rate for 10-100 cycles and decreased after more cycles. Different batteries showed different thermal behaviors which may be caused by the different structures of batteries.

Molecular and functional characterization of cry1Ac transgenic pea lines.

PubMed

Teressa Negawo, Alemayehu; Baranek, Linda; Jacobsen, Hans-Jörg; Hassan, Fathi

2016-10-01

Transgenic pea lines transformed with the cry1Ac gene were characterized at molecular (PCR, RT-PCR, qRT-PCR and immunostrip assay) and functional levels (leaf paint and insect feeding bioassays). The results showed the presence, expression, inheritance and functionality of the introduced transgene at different progeny levels. Variation in the expression of the cry1Ac gene was observed among the different transgenic lines. In the insect bioassay studies using the larvae of Heliothis virescens, both larval survival and plant damage were highly affected on the different transgenic plants. Up to 100 % larval mortality was observed on the transgenic plants compared to 17.42 % on control plants. Most of the challenged transgenic plants showed very negligible to substantially reduced feeding damage indicating the insect resistance of the developed transgenic lines. Further analysis under field condition will be required to select promising lines for future uses.

Molecular and functional characterization of cry1Ac transgenic pea lines

PubMed Central

Teressa Negawo, Alemayehu; Baranek, Linda; Jacobsen, Hans-Jörg; Hassan, Fathi

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Transgenic pea lines transformed with the cry1Ac gene were characterized at molecular (PCR, RT-PCR, qRT-PCR and immunostrip assay) and functional levels (leaf paint and insect feeding bioassays). The results showed the presence, expression, inheritance and functionality of the introduced transgene at different progeny levels. Variation in the expression of the cry1Ac gene was observed among the different transgenic lines. In the insect bioassay studies using the larvae of Heliothis virescens, both larval survival and plant damage were highly affected on the different transgenic plants. Up to 100 % larval mortality was observed on the transgenic plants compared to 17.42 % on control plants. Most of the challenged transgenic plants showed very negligible to substantially reduced feeding damage indicating the insect resistance of the developed transgenic lines. Further analysis under field condition will be required to select promising lines for future uses. PMID:27764552

Large-scale variation in subsurface stream biofilms: a cross-regional comparison of metabolic function and community similarity.

PubMed

Findlay, S; Sinsabaugh, R L

2006-10-01

We examined bacterial metabolic activity and community similarity in shallow subsurface stream sediments distributed across three regions of the eastern United States to assess whether there were parallel changes in functional and structural attributes at this large scale. Bacterial growth, oxygen consumption, and a suite of extracellular enzyme activities were assayed to describe functional variability. Community similarity was assessed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns. There were significant differences in streamwater chemistry, metabolic activity, and bacterial growth among regions with, for instance, twofold higher bacterial production in streams near Baltimore, MD, compared to Hubbard Brook, NH. Five of eight extracellular enzymes showed significant differences among regions. Cluster analyses of individual streams by metabolic variables showed clear groups with significant differences in representation of sites from different regions among groups. Clustering of sites based on randomly amplified polymorphic DNA banding resulted in groups with generally less internal similarity although there were still differences in distribution of regional sites. There was a marginally significant (p = 0.09) association between patterns based on functional and structural variables. There were statistically significant but weak (r2 approximately 30%) associations between landcover and measures of both structure and function. These patterns imply a large-scale organization of biofilm communities and this structure may be imposed by factor(s) such as landcover and covariates such as nutrient concentrations, which are known to also cause differences in macrobiota of stream ecosystems.

Functional diversity through the mean trait dissimilarity: resolving shortcomings with existing paradigms and algorithms.

PubMed

de Bello, Francesco; Carmona, Carlos P; Lepš, Jan; Szava-Kovats, Robert; Pärtel, Meelis

2016-04-01

While an increasing number of indices for estimating the functional trait diversity of biological communities are being proposed, there is a growing demand by ecologists to clarify their actual implications and simplify index selection. Several key indices relate to mean trait dissimilarity between species within biological communities. Among them, the most widely used include (a) the mean species pairwise dissimilarity (MPD) and (b) the Rao quadratic entropy (and related indices). These indices are often regarded as redundant and promote the unsubstantiated yet widely held view that Rao is a form of MPD. Worryingly, existing R functions also do not always simplify the use and differentiation of these indices. In this paper, we show various distinctions between these two indices that warrant mathematical and biological consideration. We start by showing an existing form of MPD that considers species abundances and is different from Rao both mathematically and conceptually. We then show that the mathematical relationship between MPD and Rao can be presented simply as Rao = MPD × Simpson, where the Simpson diversity index is defined as 1 - dominance. We further show that this relationship is maintained for both species abundances and presence/absence. This evidence dismantles the paradigm that the Rao diversity is an abundance-weighted form of MPD and indicates that both indices can differ substantially at low species diversities. We discuss the different interpretations of trait diversity patterns in biological communities provided by Rao and MPD and then provide a simple R function, called "melodic," which avoids the unintended results that arise from existing mainstream functions.

Supersymmetric Adler functions and holography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwanaga, Masaya; Karch, Andreas; Sakai, Tadakatsu

2016-09-01

We perform several tests on a recent proposal by Shifman and Stepanyantz for an exact expression for the current correlation functions in supersymmetric gauge theories. We clarify the meaning of the relation in superconformal theories. In particular we show that it automatically follows from known relations between the current correlation functions and anomalies. It therefore also automatically matches between different dual realizations of the same superconformal theory. We use holographic examples as well as calculations in free theories to show that the proposed relation fails in theories with mass terms.

Loss of functional diversity and network modularity in introduced plant–fungal symbioses

PubMed Central

Cooper, Jerry A.; Bufford, Jennifer L.; Hulme, Philip E.; Bates, Scott T.

2017-01-01

The introduction of alien plants into a new range can result in the loss of co-evolved symbiotic organisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi, that are essential for normal plant physiological functions. Prior studies of mycorrhizal associations in alien plants have tended to focus on individual plant species on a case-by-case basis. This approach limits broad scale understanding of functional shifts and changes in interaction network structure that may occur following introduction. Here we use two extensive datasets of plant–fungal interactions derived from fungal sporocarp observations and recorded plant hosts in two island archipelago nations: New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK). We found that the NZ dataset shows a lower functional diversity of fungal hyphal foraging strategies in mycorrhiza of alien when compared with native trees. Across species this resulted in fungal foraging strategies associated with alien trees being much more variable in functional composition compared with native trees, which had a strikingly similar functional composition. The UK data showed no functional difference in fungal associates of alien and native plant genera. Notwithstanding this, both the NZ and UK data showed a substantial difference in interaction network structure of alien trees compared with native trees. In both cases, fungal associates of native trees showed strong modularity, while fungal associates of alien trees generally integrated into a single large module. The results suggest a lower functional diversity (in one dataset) and a simplification of network structure (in both) as a result of introduction, potentially driven by either limited symbiont co-introductions or disruption of habitat as a driver of specificity due to nursery conditions, planting, or plant edaphic-niche expansion. Recognizing these shifts in function and network structure has important implications for plant invasions and facilitation of secondary invasions via shared mutualist populations. PMID:28039116

[Treatment of bilateral vocal cord paralysis by hemi-phrenic nerve transfer].

PubMed

Song, W; Li, M; Zheng, H L; Sun, L; Chen, S C; Chen, D H; Liu, F; Zhu, M H; Zhang, C Y; Wang, W

2017-04-07

Objective: To investigate the surgical effect of reinnervation of bilateral posterior cricoarytenoid muscles(PCA) with left hemi-phrenic nerve and endoscopic laser arytenoid resection in bilateral vocal cord fold paralysis(BVFP) and to analyze the pros and cons of the two methods. Methods: One hundred and seventeen BVFP patients who underwent reinnervation of bilateral PCA using the left hemi-phrenic nerve approach (nerve group, n =52) or laser arytenoidectomy(laser group, n =65) were enrolled in this study from Jan.2009 to Dec.2015.Vocal perception evaluation, video stroboscopy, pulmonary function test and laryngeal electromyography were preformed in all patients both preoperatively and postoperative1y.Extubution rate was calculated postoperative1y. Results: Most of the vocal function parameters in nerve group were improved postoperatively compared with preoperative parameters, albeit without a significant difference( P >0.05), while laser group showed a significant deterioration in voice quality postoperative1y( P <0.05). The two groups showed significant difference in voice quality postoperative1y( P <0.05). Videostroboscopy showed that vocal fold on the operated side in both groups could abduct to various extent postoperatively, which showed significant difference when compared with preoperative abductive movements ( P <0.05). But the amplitude in nerve group was larger than that in laser group ( P <0.05). 89% of the patients in nerve group were inhale physiological vocal cord abductions. Postoperative glottal closure showed no significant difference in nerve group ( P >0.05), while showed various increment in laser group( P <0.05). Differences between the two groups were statistically significant( P <0.05). The pulmonary function in both groups was better after operation, reaching the reference value. Postoperative laryngeal electromyography confirmed successful reinnervation of the bilateral PCA muscles. The decannulation rate were 88.5% and 81.5% in nerve group and laser group respectively. In both groups, patients presented aspiration symptoms postoperatively, and rdieved soon, except 2 patients in laser group suffered repeated aspiration. Conclusions: Reinnervation of bilateral PCA muscles using left hemi-phrenic nerve can restore inspiratory vocal fold abduction to a satisfactory extent while preserving phonatory function at the preoperative level without evident morbidity, and do not affect swallowing function, greatly improving the quality of life of the patients.

Age-Related Differences and Heterogeneity in Executive Functions: Analysis of NAB Executive Functions Module Scores.

PubMed

Buczylowska, Dorota; Petermann, Franz

2016-05-01

Normative data from the German adaptation of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery were used to examine age-related differences in 6 executive function tasks. A multivariate analysis of variance was employed to investigate the differences in performance in 484 participants aged 18-99 years. The coefficient of variation was calculated to compare the heterogeneity of scores between 10 age groups. Analyses showed an increase in the dispersion of scores with age, varying from 7% to 289%, in all subtests. Furthermore, age-dependent heterogeneity appeared to be associated with age-dependent decline because the subtests with the greatest increase in dispersion (i.e., Mazes, Planning, and Categories) also exhibited the greatest decrease in mean scores. In contrast, scores for the subtests Letter Fluency, Word Generation, and Judgment had the lowest increase in dispersion with the lowest decrease in mean scores. Consequently, the results presented here show a pattern of age-related differences in executive functioning that is consistent with the concept of crystallized and fluid intelligence. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Coordination properties of the oxime analogue of glycine to Cu(II).

PubMed

Georgieva, I; Trendafilova, N; Rodríguez-Santiago, L; Sodupe, M

2005-06-30

The coordination of Cu2+ by glyoxilic acid oxime (gao)--the oxime analogue of glycine amino acid--and its deprotonated (gao- and gao2-) species has been studied with different density functional methods. Single-point calculations have also been carried out at the single- and double- (triple) excitation coupled-cluster (CCSD(T)) level of theory. The isomers studied involve coordination of Cu2+ to electron-rich sites (O,N) of neutral, anionic, and dianionic gao species in different conformations. In contrast to Cu2+-glycine, for which the ground-state structure is bidentate with the CO2(-) terminus of zwitterionic glycine, for Cu2+-gao the most stable isomer shows monodentate binding of Cu2+ with the carbonylic oxygen of the neutral form. The most stable complexes of Cu2+ interacting with deprotonated gao species (gao- and gao2-) also take place through the carboxylic oxygens but in a bidentate manner. The results with different functionals show that, for these open shell (Cu2+-L) systems, the relative stability of complexes with different coordination environments (and so, different spin distribution) can be quite sensitive to the amount of "Hartree-Fock" exchange included in the functional. Among all the functionals tested in this work, the BHandHLYP is the one that better compares to CCSD(T) results.

Outcomes of managed care of dually eligible older persons.

PubMed

Kane, Robert L; Homyak, Patricia; Bershadsky, Boris; Lum, Yat-Sang; Siadaty, Mir Said

2003-04-01

To assess changes in various functional and satisfaction measures between older persons enrolled in Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO), a managed care program for older persons eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. We used two sets of matched controls for MSHO enrollees and their families and matched controls living in the community and in nursing homes: Persons in the same county who were eligible to enroll but did not enroll in MSHO and persons in other metropolitan areas where MSHO is not available. For the community sample, we used questionnaires to measure functional status (activities of daily living), pain, unmet care needs, satisfaction, and caregiver burden. Approximately 2 years after the first survey, we resurveyed respondents who lived in the community at the time of the first survey. For the nursing home residents, we used annual assessments to calculate case mix to compare changes in functional levels over time. There were few significant differences in change over time between the MSHO sample and the two control groups. Out-of-area controls showed greater increases in pain but in-area controls showed less interference from pain. Compared with out-of-area controls, MSHO clients showed greater increase in homemaker use, meals on wheels, and outpatient rehabilitation. Compared with in-area controls, they showed more use of meals on wheels and less help from family with household tasks. There were few differences in satisfaction, but the MSHO families showed significantly lower burden than controls on five items. The analyses show only modest evidence of benefit from MSHO compared with the two control groups. The model represented by MSHO does not appear to generate substantial differences in outcomes across function, satisfaction, and caregiver burden.

Association between structural and functional brain alterations in drug-free patients with schizophrenia: a multimodal meta-analysis

PubMed

Gao, Xin; Zhang, Wenjing; Yao, Li; Xiao, Yuan; Liu, Lu; Liu, Jieke; Li, Siyi; Tao, Bo; Shah, Chandan; Gong, Qiyong; Sweeney, John; Lui, Su

2017-12-05

Neuroimaging studies have shown both structural and functional abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. Recently, studies have begun to explore the association between structural and functional grey matter abnormalities. By conducting a meta­-analysis on morphometric and functional imaging studies of grey matter alterations in drug-free patients, the present study aims to examine the degree of overlap between brain regions with anatomic and functional changes in patients with schizophrenia. We performed a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant publications. A multimodal analysis was then conducted using Seed-based d Mapping software. Exploratory analyses included jackknife, subgroup and meta-regression analyses. We included 15 structural MRI studies comprising 486 drug-free patients and 485 healthy controls, and 16 functional MRI studies comprising 403 drug-free patients and 428 controls in our meta-analysis. Drug-free patients were examined to reduce pharmacological effects on the imaging data. Multimodal analysis showed considerable overlap between anatomic and functional changes, mainly in frontotemporal regions, bilateral medial posterior cingulate/paracingulate gyrus, bilateral insula, basal ganglia and left cerebellum. There were also brain regions showing only anatomic changes in the right superior frontal gyrus, left supramarginal gyrus, right lingual gyrus and functional alternations involving the right angular ­gyrus. The methodological aspects, patient characteristics and clinical variables of the included studies were heterogeneous, and we cannot exclude medication effects. The present study showed overlapping anatomic and functional brain abnormalities mainly in the default mode (DMN) and auditory networks (AN) in drug-free patients with schizophrenia. However, the pattern of changes differed in these networks. Decreased grey matter was associated with decreased activation within the DMN, whereas it was associated with increased activation within the AN. These discrete patterns suggest different pathophysiological changes impacting structural and functional associations within different neural networks in patients with schizophrenia. 2017 Joule Inc., or its licensors

Association between structural and functional brain alterations in drug-free patients with schizophrenia: a multimodal meta-analysis.

PubMed

Gao, Xin; Zhang, Wenjing; Yao, Li; Xiao, Yuan; Liu, Lu; Liu, Jieke; Li, Siyi; Tao, Bo; Shah, Chandan; Gong, Qiyong; Sweeney, John A; Lui, Su

2018-03-01

Neuroimaging studies have shown both structural and functional abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. Recently, studies have begun to explore the association between structural and functional grey matter abnormalities. By conducting a meta-analysis on morphometric and functional imaging studies of grey matter alterations in drug-free patients, the present study aims to examine the degree of overlap between brain regions with anatomic and functional changes in patients with schizophrenia. We performed a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant publications. A multimodal analysis was then conducted using Seed-based d Mapping software. Exploratory analyses included jackknife, subgroup and meta-regression analyses. We included 15 structural MRI studies comprising 486 drug-free patients and 485 healthy controls, and 16 functional MRI studies comprising 403 drug-free patients and 428 controls in our meta-analysis. Drug-free patients were examined to reduce pharmacological effects on the imaging data. Multimodal analysis showed considerable overlap between anatomic and functional changes, mainly in frontotemporal regions, bilateral medial posterior cingulate/paracingulate gyrus, bilateral insula, basal ganglia and left cerebellum. There were also brain regions showing only anatomic changes in the right superior frontal gyrus, left supramarginal gyrus, right lingual gyrus and functional alternations involving the right angular gyrus. The methodological aspects, patient characteristics and clinical variables of the included studies were heterogeneous, and we cannot exclude medication effects. The present study showed overlapping anatomic and functional brain abnormalities mainly in the default mode (DMN) and auditory networks (AN) in drug-free patients with schizophrenia. However, the pattern of changes differed in these networks. Decreased grey matter was associated with decreased activation within the DMN, whereas it was associated with increased activation within the AN. These discrete patterns suggest different pathophysiological changes impacting structural and functional associations within different neural networks in patients with schizophrenia.

Association between structural and functional brain alterations in drug-free patients with schizophrenia: a multimodal meta-analysis.

PubMed

Gao, Xin; Zhang, Wenjing; Yao, Li; Xiao, Yuan; Liu, Lu; Liu, Jieke; Li, Siyi; Tao, Bo; Shah, Chandan; Gong, Qiyong; Sweeney, John A; Lui, Su

2017-12-15

Neuroimaging studies have shown both structural and functional abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. Recently, studies have begun to explore the association between structural and functional grey matter abnormalities. By conducting a meta-analysis on morphometric and functional imaging studies of grey matter alterations in drug-free patients, the present study aims to examine the degree of overlap between brain regions with anatomic and functional changes in patients with schizophrenia. We performed a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant publications. A multimodal analysis was then conducted using Seed-based d Mapping software. Exploratory analyses included jackknife, subgroup and meta-regression analyses. We included 15 structural MRI studies comprising 486 drug-free patients and 485 healthy controls, and 16 functional MRI studies comprising 403 drug-free patients and 428 controls in our meta-analysis. Drug-free patients were examined to reduce pharmacological effects on the imaging data. Multimodal analysis showed considerable overlap between anatomic and functional changes, mainly in frontotemporal regions, bilateral medial posterior cingulate/paracingulate gyrus, bilateral insula, basal ganglia and left cerebellum. There were also brain regions showing only anatomic changes in the right superior frontal gyrus, left supramarginal gyrus, right lingual gyrus and functional alternations involving the right angular gyrus. The methodological aspects, patient characteristics and clinical variables of the included studies were heterogeneous, and we cannot exclude medication effects. The present study showed overlapping anatomic and functional brain abnormalities mainly in the default mode (DMN) and auditory networks (AN) in drug-free patients with schizophrenia. However, the pattern of changes differed in these networks. Decreased grey matter was associated with decreased activation within the DMN, whereas it was associated with increased activation within the AN. These discrete patterns suggest different pathophysiological changes impacting structural and functional associations within different neural networks in patients with schizophrenia.

Functional Smiles: Tools for Love, Sympathy, and War.

PubMed

Rychlowska, Magdalena; Jack, Rachael E; Garrod, Oliver G B; Schyns, Philippe G; Martin, Jared D; Niedenthal, Paula M

2017-09-01

A smile is the most frequent facial expression, but not all smiles are equal. A social-functional account holds that smiles of reward, affiliation, and dominance serve basic social functions, including rewarding behavior, bonding socially, and negotiating hierarchy. Here, we characterize the facial-expression patterns associated with these three types of smiles. Specifically, we modeled the facial expressions using a data-driven approach and showed that reward smiles are symmetrical and accompanied by eyebrow raising, affiliative smiles involve lip pressing, and dominance smiles are asymmetrical and contain nose wrinkling and upper-lip raising. A Bayesian-classifier analysis and a detection task revealed that the three smile types are highly distinct. Finally, social judgments made by a separate participant group showed that the different smile types convey different social messages. Our results provide the first detailed description of the physical form and social messages conveyed by these three types of functional smiles and document the versatility of these facial expressions.

Different cognitive functions discriminate gait performance in younger and older women: A pilot study.

PubMed

Gonzales, Joaquin U; James, C Roger; Yang, Hyung Suk; Jensen, Daniel; Atkins, Lee; Thompson, Brennan J; Al-Khalil, Kareem; O'Boyle, Michael

2016-10-01

Cognitive dysfunction is associated with slower gait speed in older women, but whether cognitive function affects gait performance earlier in life has yet to be investigated. Thus, the objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that cognitive function will discriminate gait performance in healthy younger women. Fast-pace and dual-task gait speed were measured in 30 young to middle-aged (30-45y) and 26 older (61-80y) women without mild cognitive impairment. Visuoperceptual ability, working memory, executive function, and learning ability were assessed using neuropsychological tests. Within each age group, women were divided by the median into lower and higher cognitive function groups to compare gait performance. Younger women with higher visuoperceptual ability had faster fast-pace (2.25±0.30 vs. 1.98±0.18m/s, p≤0.01) and dual-task gait speed (2.02±0.27 vs. 1.69±0.25m/s, p≤0.01) than women with lower visuoperceptual ability. The difference in dual-task gait speed remained significant (p=0.02) after adjusting for age, years of education, and other covariates. Dividing younger women based on other cognitive domains showed no difference in gait performance. In contrast, working memory and executive function discriminated dual-task gait speed (p<0.05) in older women after adjusting for age and education. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that poorer cognitive function even at a relatively young age can negatively impact mobility. Different cognitive functions discriminated gait performance based on age, highlighting a possible influence of aging in the relationship between cognitive function and mobility in women. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A pilot study investigating the association between sleep and cognitive function among adolescents.

PubMed

Ahmad, Shafiq; Bashir, Shahid

2017-08-01

To investigate the relationship between sleep and cognitive function among adolescent subjects in Riyadh. The sample consisted of 98 (44% female) subjects aged 10-16 years. Each participant filled in a well-structured pre-coded questionnaire regarding demographic data, including a sleep questionnaire; cognitive function was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Automated Battery (CANTAB). The cognitive function outcome variables were response times in the attention-switching task (AST) and the percentage of correct answers in the pattern recognition memory (PRM) task. There were significant differences in measures of AST-latency (p=0.005), AST-congruent (p=0.012), and AST-incongruent (p=0.009), while no significant difference was found in the PRM task score (p=0.336) within gender groups. There was a significant correlation between sleep and AST switching cost (0.277, p=0.006) and sleep and AST latency (0.188, p=0.063) across the group. This study showed that gender differences in cognitive function were significant in the group of adolescents. Additionally, this study shows that insufficient sleep can impair attention and accuracy in adolescents. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combination of volume and perfusion parameters reveals different types of grey matter changes in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Xu, Lixue; Qin, Wen; Zhuo, Chuanjun; Liu, Huaigui; Zhu, Jiajia; Yu, Chunshui

2017-03-27

Diverse brain structural and functional changes have been reported in schizophrenia. Identifying different types of brain changes may help to understand the neural mechanisms and to develop reliable biomarkers in schizophrenia. We aimed to categorize different grey matter changes in schizophrenia based on grey matter volume (GMV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF). Structural and perfusion magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in 100 schizophrenia patients and 95 healthy comparison subjects. Voxel-based GMV comparison was used to show structural changes, CBF analysis was used to demonstrate functional changes. We identified three types of grey matter changes in schizophrenia: structural and functional impairments in the anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex, displaying reduction in both GMV and CBF; structural impairment with preserved function in the frontal and temporal cortices, demonstrating decreased GMV with normal CBF; pure functional abnormality in the anterior cingulate cortex and lateral prefrontal cortex and putamen, showing altered CBF with normal GMV. By combination of GMV and CBF, we identified three types of grey matter changes in schizophrenia. These findings may help to understand the complex manifestations and to develop reliable biomarkers in schizophrenia.

Phylogenetic and Functional Structure of Wintering Waterbird Communities Associated with Ecological Differences.

PubMed

Che, Xianli; Zhang, Min; Zhao, Yanyan; Zhang, Qiang; Quan, Qing; Møller, Anders; Zou, Fasheng

2018-01-19

Ecological differences may be related to community component divisions between Oriental (west) and Sino-Japanese (east) realms, and such differences may result in weak geographical breaks in migratory species that are highly mobile. Here, we conducted comparative phylogenetic and functional structure analyses of wintering waterbird communities in southern China across two realms and subsequently examined possible climate drivers of the observed patterns. An analysis based on such highly migratory species is particularly telling because migration is bound to reduce or completely eliminate any divergence between communities. Phylogenetic and functional structure of eastern communities showed over-dispersion while western communities were clustered. Basal phylogenetic and functional turnover of western communities was significant lower than that of eastern communities. The break between eastern and western communities was masked by these two realms. Geographic patterns were related to mean temperature changes and temperature fluctuations, suggesting that temperature may filter waterbird lineages and traits, thus underlying geographical community divisions. These results suggest phylogenetic and functional divisions in southern China, coinciding with biogeography. This study shows that temperature fluctuations constitute an essential mechanism shaping geographical divisions that have largely gone undetected previously, even under climate change.

“Bad Romance”: Links between Psychological and Physical Aggression and Relationship Functioning in Adolescent Couples

PubMed Central

Seiffge-Krenke, Inge; Burk, William J.

2015-01-01

Assortative mating is an important issue in explaining antisocial, aggressive behavior. It is yet unclear, whether the similarity paradigm fully explains frequent displays of aggression in adolescents’ romantic relationships. In a sample of 194 romantic partner dyads, differences between female and male partners’ reports of aggression (psychological and physical) and different measures of relationship functioning (e.g., jealousy, conflicts, and the affiliative and romantic quality of the relationship) were assessed. A hierarchical cluster analysis identified five distinct subgroups of dyads based on male and female reports of psychological and physical aggression: nonaggressive couples, couples with higher perceived aggressiveness (both physical and psychological) by females, couples with higher aggressiveness perceived by males and mutually aggressive couples. A substantial number of non-aggressive dyads emerged. Of note was the high number of females showing one-sided aggression, which was, however, not countered by their partner. The mutually aggressive couples showed the least adaptive relationship functioning, with a lack of supportive, trusting relationship qualities, high conflict rates and high jealousy. The discussion focuses on the different functions of aggression in these early romantic relations, and the aggravating impact of mutual aggression on relationship functioning and its potential antisocial outcomes. PMID:26067515

Co-localisation of abnormal brain structure and function in specific language impairment.

PubMed

Badcock, Nicholas A; Bishop, Dorothy V M; Hardiman, Mervyn J; Barry, Johanna G; Watkins, Kate E

2012-03-01

We assessed the relationship between brain structure and function in 10 individuals with specific language impairment (SLI), compared to six unaffected siblings, and 16 unrelated control participants with typical language. Voxel-based morphometry indicated that grey matter in the SLI group, relative to controls, was increased in the left inferior frontal cortex and decreased in the right caudate nucleus and superior temporal cortex bilaterally. The unaffected siblings also showed reduced grey matter in the caudate nucleus relative to controls. In an auditory covert naming task, the SLI group showed reduced activation in the left inferior frontal cortex, right putamen, and in the superior temporal cortex bilaterally. Despite spatially coincident structural and functional abnormalities in frontal and temporal areas, the relationships between structure and function in these regions were different. These findings suggest multiple structural and functional abnormalities in SLI that are differently associated with receptive and expressive language processing. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Use of item response curves of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation to compare Japanese and American students' views on force and motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishimoto, Michi; Davenport, Glen; Wittmann, Michael C.

2017-12-01

Student views of force and motion reflect the personal experiences and physics education of the student. With a different language, culture, and educational system, we expect that Japanese students' views on force and motion might be different from those of American students. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) is an instrument used to probe student views on force and motion. It was designed using research on American students, and, as such, the items might function differently for Japanese students. Preliminary results from a translated version indicated that Japanese students had similar misconceptions as those of American students. In this study, we used item response curves (IRCs) to make more detailed item-by-item comparisons. IRCs show the functioning of individual items across all levels of performance by plotting the proportion of each response as a function of the total score. Most of the IRCs showed very similar patterns on both correct and incorrect responses; however, a few of the plots indicate differences between the populations. The similar patterns indicate that students tend to interact with FMCE items similarly, despite differences in culture, language, and education. We speculate about the possible causes for the differences in some of the IRCs. This report is intended to show how IRCs can be used as a part of the validation process when making comparisons across languages and nationalities. Differences in IRCs can help to pinpoint artifacts of translation, contextual effects because of differences in culture, and perhaps intrinsic differences in student understanding of Newtonian motion.

Bipolar disorder type I and II show distinct relationships between cortical thickness and executive function.

PubMed

Abé, C; Rolstad, S; Petrovic, P; Ekman, C-J; Sparding, T; Ingvar, M; Landén, M

2018-06-15

Frontal cortical abnormalities and executive function impairment co-occur in bipolar disorder. Recent studies have shown that bipolar subtypes differ in the degree of structural and functional impairments. The relationships between cognitive performance and cortical integrity have not been clarified and might differ across patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and healthy subjects. Using a vertex-wise whole-brain analysis, we investigated how cortical integrity, as measured by cortical thickness, correlates with executive performance in patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and controls (N = 160). We found focal associations between executive function and cortical thickness in the medial prefrontal cortex in bipolar II patients and controls, but not in bipolar I disorder. In bipolar II patients, we observed additional correlations in lateral prefrontal and occipital regions. Our findings suggest that bipolar disorder patients show altered structure-function relationships, and importantly that those relationships may differ between bipolar subtypes. The findings are line with studies suggesting subtype-specific neurobiological and cognitive profiles. This study contributes to a better understanding of brain structure-function relationships in bipolar disorder and gives important insights into the neuropathophysiology of diagnostic subtypes. © 2018 The Authors Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Potential functions of LEA proteins from the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana - anhydrobiosis meets bioinformatics.

PubMed

Janis, Brett; Uversky, Vladimir N; Menze, Michael A

2017-10-23

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are a large group of anhydrobiosis-associated intrinsically disordered proteins, which are commonly found in plants and some animals. The brine shrimp Artemia franciscana is the only known animal that expresses LEA proteins from three, and not only one, different groups in its anhydrobiotic life stage. The reason for the higher complexity in the A. franciscana LEA proteome (LEAome), compared with other anhydrobiotic animals, remains mostly unknown. To address this issue, we have employed a suite of bioinformatics tools to evaluate the disorder status of the Artemia LEAome and to analyze the roles of intrinsic disorder in functioning of brine shrimp LEA proteins. We show here that A. franciscana LEA proteins from different groups are more similar to each other than one originally expected, while functional differences among members of group three are possibly larger than commonly anticipated. Our data show that although these proteins are characterized by a large variety of forms and possible functions, as a general strategy, A. franciscana utilizes glassy matrix forming LEAs concurrently with proteins that more readily interact with binding partners. It is likely that the function(s) of both types, the matrix-forming and partner-binding LEA proteins, are regulated by changing water availability during desiccation.

Motor planning under temporal uncertainty is suboptimal when the gain function is asymmetric

PubMed Central

Ota, Keiji; Shinya, Masahiro; Kudo, Kazutoshi

2015-01-01

For optimal action planning, the gain/loss associated with actions and the variability in motor output should both be considered. A number of studies make conflicting claims about the optimality of human action planning but cannot be reconciled due to their use of different movements and gain/loss functions. The disagreement is possibly because of differences in the experimental design and differences in the energetic cost of participant motor effort. We used a coincident timing task, which requires decision making with constant energetic cost, to test the optimality of participant's timing strategies under four configurations of the gain function. We compared participant strategies to an optimal timing strategy calculated from a Bayesian model that maximizes the expected gain. We found suboptimal timing strategies under two configurations of the gain function characterized by asymmetry, in which higher gain is associated with higher risk of zero gain. Participants showed a risk-seeking strategy by responding closer than optimal to the time of onset/offset of zero gain. Meanwhile, there was good agreement of the model with actual performance under two configurations of the gain function characterized by symmetry. Our findings show that human ability to make decisions that must reflect uncertainty in one's own motor output has limits that depend on the configuration of the gain function. PMID:26236227

Longitudinal measurements of luminance and chromatic contrast sensitivity: comparison between wavefront-guided LASIK and contralateral PRK for myopia.

PubMed

Barboni, Mirella Telles Salgueiro; Feitosa-Santana, Claudia; Barreto Junior, Jackson; Lago, Marcos; Bechara, Samir Jacob; Alves, Milton Ruiz; Ventura, Dora Fix

2013-10-01

The present study aimed to compare the postoperative contrast sensitivity functions between wavefront-guided LASIK eyes and their contralateral wavefront-guided PRK eyes. The participants were 11 healthy subjects (mean age=32.4 ± 6.2 years) who had myopic astigmatism. The spatial contrast sensitivity functions were measured before and three times after the surgery. Psycho and a Cambridge graphic board (VSG 2/4) were used to measure luminance, red-green, and blue-yellow spatial contrast sensitivity functions (from 0.85 to 13.1 cycles/degree). Longitudinal analysis and comparison between surgeries were performed. There was no significant contrast sensitivity change during the one-year follow-up measurements neither for LASIK nor for PRK eyes. The comparison between procedures showed no differences at 12 months postoperative. The present data showed similar contrast sensitivities during one-year follow-up of wave-front guided refractive surgeries. Moreover, one year postoperative data showed no differences in the effects of either wavefront-guided LASIK or wavefront-guided PRK on the luminance and chromatic spatial contrast sensitivity functions.

3D-printed gelatin scaffolds of differing pore geometry modulate hepatocyte function and gene expression.

PubMed

Lewis, Phillip L; Green, Richard M; Shah, Ramille N

2018-03-15

Three dimensional (3D) printing is highly amenable to the fabrication of tissue-engineered organs of a repetitive microstructure such as the liver. The creation of uniform and geometrically repetitive tissue scaffolds can also allow for the control over cellular aggregation and nutrient diffusion. However, the effect of differing geometries, while controlling for pore size, has yet to be investigated in the context of hepatocyte function. In this study, we show the ability to precisely control pore geometry of 3D-printed gelatin scaffolds. An undifferentiated hepatocyte cell line (HUH7) demonstrated high viability and proliferation when seeded on 3D-printed scaffolds of two different geometries. However, hepatocyte specific functions (albumin secretion, CYP activity, and bile transport) increases in more interconnected 3D-printed gelatin cultures compared to a less interconnected geometry and to 2D controls. Additionally, we also illustrate the disparity between gene expression and protein function in simple 2D culture modes, and that recreation of a physiologically mimetic 3D environment is necessary to induce both expression and function of cultured hepatocytes. Three dimensional (3D) printing provides tissue engineers the ability spatially pattern cells and materials in precise geometries, however the biological effects of scaffold geometry on soft tissues such as the liver have not been rigorously investigated. In this manuscript, we describe a method to 3D print gelatin into well-defined repetitive geometries that show clear differences in biological effects on seeded hepatocytes. We show that a relatively simple and widely used biomaterial, such as gelatin, can significantly modulate biological processes when fabricated into specific 3D geometries. Furthermore, this study expands upon past research into hepatocyte aggregation by demonstrating how it can be manipulated to enhance protein function, and how function and expression may not precisely correlate in 2D models. Copyright © 2018 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preserved cognitive functions with age are determined by domain-dependent shifts in network responsivity

PubMed Central

Samu, Dávid; Campbell, Karen L.; Tsvetanov, Kamen A.; Shafto, Meredith A.; Brayne, Carol; Bullmore, Edward T.; Calder, Andrew C.; Cusack, Rhodri; Dalgleish, Tim; Duncan, John; Henson, Richard N.; Matthews, Fiona E.; Marslen-Wilson, William D.; Rowe, James B.; Cheung, Teresa; Davis, Simon; Geerligs, Linda; Kievit, Rogier; McCarrey, Anna; Mustafa, Abdur; Price, Darren; Taylor, Jason R.; Treder, Matthias; van Belle, Janna; Williams, Nitin; Bates, Lauren; Emery, Tina; Erzinçlioglu, Sharon; Gadie, Andrew; Gerbase, Sofia; Georgieva, Stanimira; Hanley, Claire; Parkin, Beth; Troy, David; Auer, Tibor; Correia, Marta; Gao, Lu; Green, Emma; Henriques, Rafael; Allen, Jodie; Amery, Gillian; Amunts, Liana; Barcroft, Anne; Castle, Amanda; Dias, Cheryl; Dowrick, Jonathan; Fair, Melissa; Fisher, Hayley; Goulding, Anna; Grewal, Adarsh; Hale, Geoff; Hilton, Andrew; Johnson, Frances; Johnston, Patricia; Kavanagh-Williamson, Thea; Kwasniewska, Magdalena; McMinn, Alison; Norman, Kim; Penrose, Jessica; Roby, Fiona; Rowland, Diane; Sargeant, John; Squire, Maggie; Stevens, Beth; Stoddart, Aldabra; Stone, Cheryl; Thompson, Tracy; Yazlik, Ozlem; Barnes, Dan; Dixon, Marie; Hillman, Jaya; Mitchell, Joanne; Villis, Laura; Tyler, Lorraine K.

2017-01-01

Healthy ageing has disparate effects on different cognitive domains. The neural basis of these differences, however, is largely unknown. We investigated this question by using Independent Components Analysis to obtain functional brain components from 98 healthy participants aged 23–87 years from the population-based Cam-CAN cohort. Participants performed two cognitive tasks that show age-related decrease (fluid intelligence and object naming) and a syntactic comprehension task that shows age-related preservation. We report that activation of task-positive neural components predicts inter-individual differences in performance in each task across the adult lifespan. Furthermore, only the two tasks that show performance declines with age show age-related decreases in task-positive activation of neural components and decreasing default mode (DM) suppression. Our results suggest that distributed, multi-component brain responsivity supports cognition across the adult lifespan, and the maintenance of this, along with maintained DM deactivation, characterizes successful ageing and may explain differential ageing trajectories across cognitive domains. PMID:28480894

Preserved cognitive functions with age are determined by domain-dependent shifts in network responsivity.

PubMed

Samu, Dávid; Campbell, Karen L; Tsvetanov, Kamen A; Shafto, Meredith A; Tyler, Lorraine K

2017-05-08

Healthy ageing has disparate effects on different cognitive domains. The neural basis of these differences, however, is largely unknown. We investigated this question by using Independent Components Analysis to obtain functional brain components from 98 healthy participants aged 23-87 years from the population-based Cam-CAN cohort. Participants performed two cognitive tasks that show age-related decrease (fluid intelligence and object naming) and a syntactic comprehension task that shows age-related preservation. We report that activation of task-positive neural components predicts inter-individual differences in performance in each task across the adult lifespan. Furthermore, only the two tasks that show performance declines with age show age-related decreases in task-positive activation of neural components and decreasing default mode (DM) suppression. Our results suggest that distributed, multi-component brain responsivity supports cognition across the adult lifespan, and the maintenance of this, along with maintained DM deactivation, characterizes successful ageing and may explain differential ageing trajectories across cognitive domains.

The calculations of small molecular conformation energy differences by density functional method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topol, I. A.; Burt, S. K.

1993-03-01

The differences in the conformational energies for the gauche (G) and trans(T) conformers of 1,2-difluoroethane and for myo-and scyllo-conformer of inositol have been calculated by local density functional method (LDF approximation) with geometry optimization using different sets of calculation parameters. It is shown that in the contrast to Hartree—Fock methods, density functional calculations reproduce the correct sign and value of the gauche effect for 1,2-difluoroethane and energy difference for both conformers of inositol. The results of normal vibrational analysis for1,2-difluoroethane showed that harmonic frequencies calculated in LDF approximation agree with experimental data with the accuracy typical for scaled large basis set Hartree—Fock calculations.

PASTA in Penicillin Binding Proteins and Serine/Threonine Kinases: A Recipe of Structural, Dynamic and Binding Properties.

PubMed

Calvanese, Luisa; Falcigno, Lucia; Squeglia, Flavia; D'Auria, Gabriella; Berisio, Rita

2017-11-24

Penicillin binding proteins (PBPs) and Serine Threonine kinases (STPKs) are two classes of bacterial enzymes whose involvement in a series of vital processes in bacterial growth and division is well assessed. Many PBPs and STPKs show linked an ancillary domain named PASTA, whose functional role is not completely deciphered so far. It has been proposed that PASTAs are sensor modules that by binding opportune ligands (i.e. muropeptides) activate the cognate proteins to their functions. However, based on recent data, the sensor annotation sounds true for PASTA from STPKs, and false for PASTA from PBPs. Different PASTA domains, belonging or not to different protein classes, sharing or not appreciable sequence identities, always show identical folds. This survey of the structural, binding and dynamic properties of PASTA domains pursues the reasons why identical topologies may turn in different roles. Amino acid compositions, total charges and distribution of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic patches on the surface, significantly vary among PASTAs from STPKs and PBPs and appear to correlate with different functions. A possible criterion to discriminate between PASTA modules of STPKs or PBPs solely based on their sequences is proposed. Possibly reflecting different species as well as functional roles and evolutionary profile, our routine represents a fast even though approximate method to distinguish between PASTA belonging to different classes. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

A cross-sectional controlled developmental study of neuropsychological functions in patients with glutaric aciduria type I.

PubMed

Boy, Nikolas; Heringer, Jana; Haege, Gisela; Glahn, Esther M; Hoffmann, Georg F; Garbade, Sven F; Kölker, Stefan; Burgard, Peter

2015-12-22

Glutaric aciduria type I (GA-I) is an inherited metabolic disease due to deficiency of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase (GCDH). Cognitive functions are generally thought to be spared, but have not yet been studied in detail. Thirty patients detected by newborn screening (n = 13), high-risk screening (n = 3) or targeted metabolic testing (n = 14) were studied for simple reaction time (SRT), continuous performance (CP), visual working memory (VWM), visual-motor coordination (Tracking) and visual search (VS). Dystonia (n = 13 patients) was categorized using the Barry-Albright-Dystonia Scale (BADS). Patients were compared with 196 healthy controls. Developmental functions of cognitive performances were analysed using a negative exponential function model. BADS scores correlated with speed tests but not with tests measuring stability or higher cognitive functions without time constraints. Developmental functions of GA-I patients significantly differed from controls for SRT and VS but not for VWM and showed obvious trends for CP and Tracking. Dystonic patients were slower in SRT and CP but reached their asymptote of performance similar to asymptomatic patients and controls in all tests. Asymptomatic patients did not differ from controls, except showing significantly better results in Tracking and a trend for slower reactions in visual search. Data across all age groups of patients and controls fitted well to a model of negative exponential development. Dystonic patients predominantly showed motor speed impairment, whereas performance improved with higher cognitive load. Patients without motor symptoms did not differ from controls. Developmental functions of cognitive performances were similar in patients and controls. Performance in tests with higher cognitive demand might be preserved in GA-I, even in patients with striatal degeneration.

Soil conditions drive changes in a key leaf functional trait through environmental filtering and facilitative interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina-Venegas, Rafael; Aparicio, Abelardo; Lavergne, Sébastien; Arroyo, Juan

2018-01-01

Non-random patterns in the functional structure of communities are often interpreted as evidence for different forces governing their assemblage. However, community assembly processes may act antagonistically, countering each other's signatures on the functional structure of communities, which may lead to spurious inferences on the underlying mechanisms. To illustrate this issue, we assessed the joint effects of environmental filtering and facilitative interactions on a key leaf functional trait (i.e. specific leaf area, SLA) in Mediterranean dwarf-shrub communities, using a two-scale sampling approach. Specifically, we analyzed differences in community-weighted mean SLA values (CWM-SLA) between communities (community-scale) and between guilds within communities (guild-scale, i.e. individuals sampled in understorey, overstorey and open-ground conditions) across contrasted soil environments and elevational gradients. We found that communities on harsh edaphic conditions (i.e. dolomite habitats) showed significantly lower CWM-SLA values than communities on more fertile habitats. In contrast, elevation was a poor predictor of differences in CWM-SLA between the communities. This suggests that environmental filtering may influence leaf trait variation along soil gradients irrespective of elevation. On the other hand, communities on dolomite habitats showed strong differences in CWM-SLA between understorey (higher CWM-SLA) and either open-ground and overstorey guilds (lower CWM-SLA), whereas communities on more fertile soils showed no differences between the guilds. The strong differences in CWM-SLA between understorey and non-understorey guilds in dolomite communities suggest that facilitative interactions may be particularly at stake under stressful edaphic conditions, thus partially mitigating the effect of environmental filtering (i.e. low SLA values) on communities growing in harsh soils.

Relative importance of modularity and other morphological attributes on different types of lithic point weapons: assessing functional variations.

PubMed

González-José, Rolando; Charlin, Judith

2012-01-01

The specific using of different prehistoric weapons is mainly determined by its physical properties, which provide a relative advantage or disadvantage to perform a given, particular function. Since these physical properties are integrated to accomplish that function, examining design variables and their pattern of integration or modularity is of interest to estimate the past function of a point. Here we analyze a composite sample of lithic points from southern Patagonia likely formed by arrows, thrown spears and hand-held points to test if they can be viewed as a two-module system formed by the blade and the stem, and to evaluate the degree in which shape, size, asymmetry, blade: stem length ratio, and tip angle explain the observed variance and differentiation among points supposedly aimed to accomplish different functions. To do so we performed a geometric morphometric analysis on 118 lithic points, departing from 24 two-dimensional landmark and semi landmarks placed on the point's contour. Klingenberg's covariational modularity tests were used to evaluate different modularity hypotheses, and a composite PCA including shape, size, asymmetry, blade: stem length ratio, and tip angle was used to estimate the importance of each attribute to explaining variation patterns. Results show that the blade and the stem can be seen as "near decomposable units" in the points integrating the studied sample. However, this modular pattern changes after removing the effects of reduction. Indeed, a resharpened point tends to show a tip/rest of the point modular pattern. The composite PCA analyses evidenced three different patterns of morphometric attributes compatible with arrows, thrown spears, and hand-held tools. Interestingly, when analyzed independently, these groups show differences in their modular organization. Our results indicate that stone tools can be approached as flexible designs, characterized by a composite set of interacting morphometric attributes, and evolving on a modular way.

Relative Importance of Modularity and Other Morphological Attributes on Different Types of Lithic Point Weapons: Assessing Functional Variations

PubMed Central

González-José, Rolando; Charlin, Judith

2012-01-01

The specific using of different prehistoric weapons is mainly determined by its physical properties, which provide a relative advantage or disadvantage to perform a given, particular function. Since these physical properties are integrated to accomplish that function, examining design variables and their pattern of integration or modularity is of interest to estimate the past function of a point. Here we analyze a composite sample of lithic points from southern Patagonia likely formed by arrows, thrown spears and hand-held points to test if they can be viewed as a two-module system formed by the blade and the stem, and to evaluate the degree in which shape, size, asymmetry, blade: stem length ratio, and tip angle explain the observed variance and differentiation among points supposedly aimed to accomplish different functions. To do so we performed a geometric morphometric analysis on 118 lithic points, departing from 24 two-dimensional landmark and semi landmarks placed on the point's contour. Klingenberg's covariational modularity tests were used to evaluate different modularity hypotheses, and a composite PCA including shape, size, asymmetry, blade: stem length ratio, and tip angle was used to estimate the importance of each attribute to explaining variation patterns. Results show that the blade and the stem can be seen as “near decomposable units” in the points integrating the studied sample. However, this modular pattern changes after removing the effects of reduction. Indeed, a resharpened point tends to show a tip/rest of the point modular pattern. The composite PCA analyses evidenced three different patterns of morphometric attributes compatible with arrows, thrown spears, and hand-held tools. Interestingly, when analyzed independently, these groups show differences in their modular organization. Our results indicate that stone tools can be approached as flexible designs, characterized by a composite set of interacting morphometric attributes, and evolving on a modular way. PMID:23094104

Characterizing bonding patterns in diradicals and triradicals by density-based wave function analysis: A uniform approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Orms, Natalie; Rehn, Dirk; Dreuw, Andreas

Density-based wave function analysis enables unambiguous comparisons of electronic structure computed by different methods and removes ambiguity of orbital choices. Here, we use this tool to investigate the performance of different spin-flip methods for several prototypical diradicals and triradicals. In contrast to previous calibration studies that focused on energy gaps between high and low spin-states, we focus on the properties of the underlying wave functions, such as the number of effectively unpaired electrons. Comparison of different density functional and wave function theory results provides insight into the performance of the different methods when applied to strongly correlated systems such asmore » polyradicals. We also show that canonical molecular orbitals for species like large copper-containing diradicals fail to correctly represent the underlying electronic structure due to highly non-Koopmans character, while density-based analysis of the same wave function delivers a clear picture of bonding pattern.« less

Characterizing bonding patterns in diradicals and triradicals by density-based wave function analysis: A uniform approach

DOE PAGES

Orms, Natalie; Rehn, Dirk; Dreuw, Andreas; ...

2017-12-21

Density-based wave function analysis enables unambiguous comparisons of electronic structure computed by different methods and removes ambiguity of orbital choices. Here, we use this tool to investigate the performance of different spin-flip methods for several prototypical diradicals and triradicals. In contrast to previous calibration studies that focused on energy gaps between high and low spin-states, we focus on the properties of the underlying wave functions, such as the number of effectively unpaired electrons. Comparison of different density functional and wave function theory results provides insight into the performance of the different methods when applied to strongly correlated systems such asmore » polyradicals. We also show that canonical molecular orbitals for species like large copper-containing diradicals fail to correctly represent the underlying electronic structure due to highly non-Koopmans character, while density-based analysis of the same wave function delivers a clear picture of bonding pattern.« less

Rehabilitation Outcomes: Ischemic versus Hemorrhagic Strokes

PubMed Central

Perna, Robert; Temple, Jessica

2015-01-01

Background. Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes have different pathophysiologies and possibly different long-term cerebral and functional implications. Hemorrhagic strokes expose the brain to irritating effects of blood and ischemic strokes reflect localized or diffuse cerebral vascular pathology. Methods. Participants were individuals who suffered either an ischemic (n = 172) or hemorrhagic stroke (n = 112) within the past six months and were involved in a postacute neurorehabilitation program. Participants completed three months of postacute neurorehabilitation and the Mayo Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 (MPAI-4) at admission and discharge. Admission MPAI-4 scores and level of functioning were comparable. Results. Group ANOVA comparisons show no significant group differences at admission or discharge or difference in change scores. Both groups showed considerably reduced levels of productivity/employment after discharge as compared to preinjury levels. Conclusions. Though the pathophysiology of these types of strokes is different, both ultimately result in ischemic injuries, possibly accounting for lack of findings of differences between groups. In the present study, participants in both groups experienced similar functional levels across all three MPAI-4 domains both at admission and discharge. Limitations of this study include a highly educated sample and few outcome measures. PMID:26246694

Spousal Associations Between Functional Limitation and Depressive Symptom Trajectories: Longitudinal Findings from the Study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD)

PubMed Central

Hoppmann, Christiane A.; Gerstorf, Denis; Hibbert, Anita

2010-01-01

Objective To examine spousal associations between functional limitation and depressive symptom trajectories in a national sample of older long-term married couples. Design We use 14.5-year longitudinal data on functional limitations and depressive symptoms from 1,704 couples participating in the Study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD). Main Outcome Measures Activities of Daily Living and a short version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were used. Results Between-person difference findings corroborate previous research by showing that levels and changes in functional limitations and depressive symptoms are closely interrelated among wives and husbands. Importantly, our results further demonstrate sizeable associations in levels and changes in functional limitations and depressive symptoms between spouses. For example, functional limitation levels in one spouse were associated with depressive symptom levels in the respective other spouse. Spousal associations remained after controlling for individual (age, education, cognition) and spousal covariates (marriage duration, number of children) and did not differ between women and men. Conclusion Our findings highlight the important role of marital relationships in shaping health trajectories in old age because they show that some of the well-documented between-person differences in functional limitations and depressive symptoms are in fact related to spouses. PMID:21401249

Cognitive functioning in dyskinetic cerebral palsy: Its relation to motor function, communication and epilepsy.

PubMed

Ballester-Plané, Júlia; Laporta-Hoyos, Olga; Macaya, Alfons; Póo, Pilar; Meléndez-Plumed, Mar; Toro-Tamargo, Esther; Gimeno, Francisca; Narberhaus, Ana; Segarra, Dolors; Pueyo, Roser

2018-01-01

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a disorder of motor function often accompanied by cognitive impairment. There is a paucity of research focused on cognition in dyskinetic CP and on the potential effect of related factors. To describe the cognitive profile in dyskinetic CP and to assess its relationship with motor function and associated impairments. Fifty-two subjects with dyskinetic CP (28 males, mean age 24 y 10 mo, SD 13 y) and 52 typically-developing controls (age- and gender-matched) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) and epilepsy were recorded. Cognitive performance was compared between control and CP groups, also according different levels of GMFCS. The relationship between cognition, CFCS and epilepsy was examined through partial correlation coefficients, controlling for GMFCS. Dyskinetic CP participants performed worse than controls on all cognitive functions except for verbal memory. Milder cases (GMFCS I) only showed impairment in attention, visuoperception and visual memory. Participants with GMFCS II-III also showed impairment in language-related functions. Severe cases (GMFCS IV-V) showed impairment in intelligence and all specific cognitive functions but verbal memory. CFCS was associated with performance in receptive language functions. Epilepsy was related to performance in intelligence, visuospatial abilities, visual memory, grammar comprehension and learning. Cognitive performance in dyskinetic CP varies with the different levels of motor impairment, with more cognitive functions impaired as motor severity increases. This study also demonstrates the relationship between communication and epilepsy and cognitive functioning, even controlling for the effect of motor severity. Copyright © 2017 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family Functioning of Adolescents Who Parent and Place for Adoption.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geber, Gayle; Resnick, Michael D.

1988-01-01

Assessed family environments of 84 pregnant adolescents who recently made decision to parent or to place their babies for adoption. Results showed that adolescent parents or placers described their families as less functional than adolescent norms. Found no significant differences in family functioning between parents and placers. Vast majority of…

Lexical bundles in an advanced INTOCSU writing class and engineering texts: A functional analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alquraishi, Mohammed Abdulrahman

The purpose of this study is to investigate the functions of lexical bundles in two corpora: a corpus of engineering academic texts and a corpus of IEP advanced writing class texts. This study is concerned with the nature of formulaic language in Pathway IEPs and engineering texts, and whether those types of texts show similar or distinctive formulaic functions. Moreover, the study looked into lexical bundles found in an engineering 1.26 million-word corpus and an ESL 65000-word corpus using a concordancing program. The study then analyzed the functions of those lexical bundles and compared them statistically using chi-square tests. Additionally, the results of this investigation showed 236 unique frequent lexical bundles in the engineering corpus and 37 bundles in the pathway corpus. Also, the study identified several differences between the density and functions of lexical bundles in the two corpora. These differences were evident in the distribution of functions of lexical bundles and the minimal overlap of lexical bundles found in the two corpora. The results of this study call for more attention to formulaic language at ESP and EAP programs.

Relationships between cortical myeloarchitecture and electrophysiological networks

PubMed Central

Hunt, Benjamin A. E.; Tewarie, Prejaas K.; Mougin, Olivier E.; Geades, Nicolas; Singh, Krish D.; Morris, Peter G.; Gowland, Penny A.; Brookes, Matthew J.

2016-01-01

The human brain relies upon the dynamic formation and dissolution of a hierarchy of functional networks to support ongoing cognition. However, how functional connectivities underlying such networks are supported by cortical microstructure remains poorly understood. Recent animal work has demonstrated that electrical activity promotes myelination. Inspired by this, we test a hypothesis that gray-matter myelin is related to electrophysiological connectivity. Using ultra-high field MRI and the principle of structural covariance, we derive a structural network showing how myelin density differs across cortical regions and how separate regions can exhibit similar myeloarchitecture. Building upon recent evidence that neural oscillations mediate connectivity, we use magnetoencephalography to elucidate networks that represent the major electrophysiological pathways of communication in the brain. Finally, we show that a significant relationship exists between our functional and structural networks; this relationship differs as a function of neural oscillatory frequency and becomes stronger when integrating oscillations over frequency bands. Our study sheds light on the way in which cortical microstructure supports functional networks. Further, it paves the way for future investigations of the gray-matter structure/function relationship and its breakdown in pathology. PMID:27830650

Domains of psychosocial disability and mental disorders.

PubMed

Ro, Eunyoe; Watson, David; Clark, Lee Anna

2018-06-07

This study examined relations between comprehensive domains of psychosocial disability and mental disorders to determine (1) whether differential patterns of associations exist between psychosocial disability dimensions and commonly diagnosed mental disorders and (2) whether these relations differ between self-reported and interviewer-rated psychosocial disability domains. Self-reported and interviewer-rated psychosocial functioning measures and an interviewer-rated diagnostic assessment tool were administered to 181 psychiatric outpatients. Internalizing disorders showed the strongest and most pervasive associations with psychosocial impairment across both self-reported and interviewer-rated measures, followed by thought disorder; externalizing showed the weakest associations. More specifically, logistic regression analyses indicated that lower well-being factor score significantly increased the odds of distress-disorder diagnoses, and poor basic functioning increased the odds of PTSD. Results clearly showed differences in the magnitude of associations between three dimensions of psychosocial-disability and commonly diagnosed disorders, and that these differences were similar regardless of rater type. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sex Differences in Insular Cortex Gyri Responses to the Valsalva Maneuver.

PubMed

Macey, Paul M; Rieken, Nicholas S; Kumar, Rajesh; Ogren, Jennifer A; Middlekauff, Holly R; Wu, Paula; Woo, Mary A; Harper, Ronald M

2016-01-01

Sex differences in autonomic regulation may underlie cardiovascular disease variations between females and males. One key autonomic brain region is the insular cortex, which typically consists of five main gyri in each hemisphere, and shows a topographical organization of autonomic function across those gyri. The present study aims to identify possible sex differences in organization of autonomic function in the insula. We studied brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to a series of four 18-s Valsalva maneuvers in 22 healthy females (age ± SD: 50.0 ± 7.9 years) and 36 healthy males (45.3 ± 9.2 years). Comparisons of heart rate (HR) and fMRI signals were performed with repeated measures ANOVA (threshold P < 0.05 for all findings). All subjects achieved the target 30 mmHg expiratory pressure for all challenges. Typical HR responses were elicited by the maneuver, including HR increases from ~4 s into the strain period (Phase II) and rapid declines to below baseline 5-10 s, following strain release (Phase IV). Small, but significant, sex differences in HR percent change occurred during the sympathetic-dominant Phase II (female < male) and parasympathetic-dominant Phase IV (female > male, i.e., greater undershoot in males). The insular cortices showed similar patterns in all gyri, with greater signal decreases in males than females. Both sexes exhibited an anterior-posterior topographical organization of insular responses during Phase II, with anterior gyri showing higher responses than more posterior gyri. The exception was the right anterior-most gyrus in females, which had lower responses than the four other right gyri. Responses were lateralized, with right-sided dominance during Phase II in both sexes, except the right anterior-most gyrus in females, which showed lower responses than the left. The findings confirm the anterior and right-sided sympathetic dominance of the insula. Although sex differences were prominent in response magnitude, organization differences between males and females were limited to the right anterior-most gyrus, which showed a lower fMRI response in females vs. males (and vs. other gyri in females). The sex differences suggest a possible differing baseline state of brain physiology or tonic functional activity between females and males, especially in the right anterior-most gyrus.

Cannabis use in male and female first episode of non-affective psychosis patients: Long-term clinical, neuropsychological and functional differences

PubMed Central

Neergaard, Karl; Ramírez-Bonilla, Mariluz; Correa-Ghisays, Patricia; Fañanás, Lourdes; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Ayesa-Arriola, Rosa

2017-01-01

Background Numerous studies show the existence of a high prevalence of cannabis use among patients with psychosis. However, the differences between men and women who debut with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) regarding cannabis use have not been largely explored. The aim of this study was to identify the specific sex factors and differences in clinical evolution associated with cannabis use. Method Sociodemographic characteristics at baseline were considered in our sample of FEP patients to find differences depending on sex and the use of cannabis. Clinical, functional and neurocognitive variables at baseline, 1-year, and 3-years follow-up were also explored. Results A total of 549 patients, of whom 43% (N = 236) were cannabis users, 79% (N = 186) male and 21% (N = 50) female, were included in the study. There was a clear relationship between being male and being a user of cannabis (OR = 5.6). Cannabis users were younger at illness onset. Longitudinal analysis showed that women significantly improved in all three dimensions of psychotic symptoms, both in the subgroup of cannabis users and in the non-users subgroup. Conversely, subgroups of men did not show improvement in the negative dimension. In cognitive function, only men presented a significant time by group interaction in processing speed, showing a greater improvement in the subgroup of cannabis users. Conclusion Despite knowing that there is a relationship between cannabis use and psychosis, due to the high prevalence of cannabis use among male FEP patients, the results showed that there were very few differences in clinical and neurocognitive outcomes between men and women who used cannabis at the start of treatment compared to those who did not. PMID:28832666

Functional diversity of zooplankton communities in two tropical estuaries (NE Brazil) with different degrees of human-induced disturbance.

PubMed

Veríssimo, Helena; Patrício, Joana; Gonçalves, Érica; Moura, Gustavo C; Barbosa, José Etham L; Gonçalves, Ana M M

2017-08-01

This study assessed the functional diversity (FD) of copepod communities along the environmental gradient of two tropical estuaries with different intensities of human impact - the environmentally protected "Mamanguape" and the urbanised "Paraiba". Different trait-based approaches were used: functional groups identification and description, and FD indices estimation. The results showed similar functional groups and functional indices between the two estuaries with some variability attributed to seasonality. Copepods in each estuary seemed to perform similar functions. Overall, biomass was more evenly distributed among groups, and mean total biomass and FD indices were slightly higher in the Mamanguape. Nevertheless, both estuaries presented comparable FD, indicating that environmental filters may be the main driver of species coexistence within systems. Results also pointed towards anthropogenic disturbance, despite the protection status of the Mamanguape. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adolescent Gender Differences in Cognitive Control Performance and Functional Connectivity Between Default Mode and Fronto-Parietal Networks Within a Self-Referential Context

PubMed Central

Alarcón, Gabriela; Pfeifer, Jennifer H.; Fair, Damien A.; Nagel, Bonnie J.

2018-01-01

Ineffective reduction of functional connectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (FPN) during cognitive control can interfere with performance in healthy individuals—a phenomenon present in psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Here, this mechanism is studied in healthy adolescents by examining gender differences in task-regressed functional connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a novel task designed to place the DMN—supporting self-referential processing (SRP)—and FPN—supporting cognitive control—into conflict. Compared to boys, girls showed stronger functional connectivity between DMN and FPN during cognitive control in an SRP context (n = 40; boys = 20), a context that also elicited more errors of omission in girls. The gender difference in errors of omission was mediated by higher self-reported co-rumination—the extensive and repetitive discussion of problems and focus on negative feelings with a same-gender peer—by girls, compared to boys. These findings indicate that placing internal and external attentional demands in conflict lead to persistent functional connectivity between FPN and DMN in girls, but not boys; however, deficits in performance during this context were explained by co-rumination, such that youth with higher co-rumination displayed the largest performance deficits. Previous research shows that co-rumination predicts depressive symptoms during adolescence; thus, gender differences in the mechanisms involved with transitioning from internal to external processing may be relevant for understanding heightened vulnerability for depression in adolescent girls. PMID:29740292

Adolescent Gender Differences in Cognitive Control Performance and Functional Connectivity Between Default Mode and Fronto-Parietal Networks Within a Self-Referential Context.

PubMed

Alarcón, Gabriela; Pfeifer, Jennifer H; Fair, Damien A; Nagel, Bonnie J

2018-01-01

Ineffective reduction of functional connectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (FPN) during cognitive control can interfere with performance in healthy individuals-a phenomenon present in psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Here, this mechanism is studied in healthy adolescents by examining gender differences in task-regressed functional connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a novel task designed to place the DMN-supporting self-referential processing (SRP)-and FPN-supporting cognitive control-into conflict. Compared to boys, girls showed stronger functional connectivity between DMN and FPN during cognitive control in an SRP context ( n = 40; boys = 20), a context that also elicited more errors of omission in girls. The gender difference in errors of omission was mediated by higher self-reported co-rumination-the extensive and repetitive discussion of problems and focus on negative feelings with a same-gender peer-by girls, compared to boys. These findings indicate that placing internal and external attentional demands in conflict lead to persistent functional connectivity between FPN and DMN in girls, but not boys; however, deficits in performance during this context were explained by co-rumination, such that youth with higher co-rumination displayed the largest performance deficits. Previous research shows that co-rumination predicts depressive symptoms during adolescence; thus, gender differences in the mechanisms involved with transitioning from internal to external processing may be relevant for understanding heightened vulnerability for depression in adolescent girls.

Comparison of functional results of two fixation systems using single-row suturing of rotator cuff.

PubMed

Muniesa-Herrero, M P; Torres-Campos, A; Urgel-Granados, A; Blanco-Llorca, J A; Floría-Arnal, L J; Roncal-Boj, J C; Castro-Sauras, A

Arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff disorders is a technically demanding but successful procedure. Many anchor and suture alternatives are now available. The choice of the implant by the surgeon is less important than the configuration of the suture used to fix the tendon, however it is necessary to know if there are differences in the results, using each one of them. The aim of the study is to evaluate if there are differences between the knotted and non-knotted implant in terms of functional and satisfaction results. A retrospective study was carried out on 83 patients operated between 2010 and 2014 in our center using 2anchoring systems with and without knotting (39 versus 44 patients respectively), with single row in complete rupture of the rotator cuff. At the end of the follow-up, an average score was obtained on the Constant scale of 74.6 points. 98% of the patients considered the result of the surgery satisfactory. Statistically, there were no significant differences between the 2groups in terms of functionality, satisfaction or reincorporation to activities. The functional results of the single-row cuff suture are satisfactory, although biomechanical studies show advantages in favor of sutures that reproduce a transoseo system. It our series of patients the presence of knotting does not show per se a significant functional difference being both superimposable techniques in absolute values of functionality and patient satisfaction. Copyright © 2018 SECOT. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Early detection of lung function decrements in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis using new reference values.

PubMed

Zacharasiewicz, Angela; Renner, Sabine; Haderer, Flora; Weber, Michael; Dehlink, Eleonore; Szepfalusi, Zsolt; Frischer, Thomas

2017-08-01

Interpretation of lung function values in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) depends on the applied reference values. We hypothesize that differences between the new global lung function initiative (GLI) values and the formerly used Zapletal et al. values produce significantly different clinical results. We analyzed 3719 lung function measurements of 108 children and adolescents (n = 54 male; aged 6-18 years) with CF treated between September 1991 and July 2009. Data were analyzed in milliliters (ml) and % predicted (pred.) and interpreted using Zapletal and GLI reference values. Applying GLI compared to Zapletal resulted in significantly lower mean forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1)% pred. Zapletal 86.6% (SD 20.6), GLI 79.9% (SD 20.3) and 32% (n = 497/1543) were misclassified as normal when using Zapletal. Despite showing no overall differences in FEV1 and forced vital capacity (FVC) between concomitant Pseudomonas detection (PA+) in n = 938 and Pseudomonas negative (PA-) (n = 2781) using either reference PA+ resulted in lower FEV1 and FVC values with increasing age; however, measurement of small airway obstruction with forced expiratory flow at 75% of FVC (FEF75) values - available for Zapletal -showed significant differences. Reassurance regarding lung function when using old reference values may occur with potential clinical significance. Discrepancies in lung function interpretation underline the importance of using uniform and best available reference values.

Analyses of Dynein Heavy Chain Mutations Reveal Complex Interactions Between Dynein Motor Domains and Cellular Dynein Functions

PubMed Central

Sivagurunathan, Senthilkumar; Schnittker, Robert R.; Razafsky, David S.; Nandini, Swaran; Plamann, Michael D.; King, Stephen J.

2012-01-01

Cytoplasmic dynein transports cargoes for a variety of crucial cellular functions. However, since dynein is essential in most eukaryotic organisms, the in-depth study of the cellular function of dynein via genetic analysis of dynein mutations has not been practical. Here, we identify and characterize 34 different dynein heavy chain mutations using a genetic screen of the ascomycete fungus Neurospora crassa, in which dynein is nonessential. Interestingly, our studies show that these mutations segregate into five different classes based on the in vivo localization of the mutated dynein motors. Furthermore, we have determined that the different classes of dynein mutations alter vesicle trafficking, microtubule organization, and nuclear distribution in distinct ways and require dynactin to different extents. In addition, biochemical analyses of dynein from one mutant strain show a strong correlation between its in vitro biochemical properties and the aberrant intracellular function of that altered dynein. When the mutations were mapped to the published dynein crystal structure, we found that the three-dimensional structural locations of the heavy chain mutations were linked to particular classes of altered dynein functions observed in cells. Together, our data indicate that the five classes of dynein mutations represent the entrapment of dynein at five separate points in the dynein mechanochemical and transport cycles. We have developed N. crassa as a model system where we can dissect the complexities of dynein structure, function, and interaction with other proteins with genetic, biochemical, and cell biological studies. PMID:22649085

Cognitive performance and psychosocial functioning in patients with bipolar disorder, unaffected siblings, and healthy controls.

PubMed

Vasconcelos-Moreno, Mirela P; Bücker, Joana; Bürke, Kelen P; Czepielewski, Leticia; Santos, Barbara T; Fijtman, Adam; Passos, Ives C; Kunz, Mauricio; Bonnín, Caterina Del Mar; Vieta, Eduard; Kapczinski, Flavio; Rosa, Adriane R; Kauer-Sant'Anna, Marcia

2016-01-01

To assess cognitive performance and psychosocial functioning in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), in unaffected siblings, and in healthy controls. Subjects were patients with BD (n=36), unaffected siblings (n=35), and healthy controls (n=44). Psychosocial functioning was accessed using the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST). A sub-group of patients with BD (n=21), unaffected siblings (n=14), and healthy controls (n=22) also underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests: California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Stroop Color and Word Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance or the chi-square test; multivariate analysis of covariance was used to examine differences in neuropsychological variables. Patients with BD showed higher FAST total scores (23.90±11.35) than healthy controls (5.86±5.47; p < 0.001) and siblings (12.60±11.83; p 0.001). Siblings and healthy controls also showed statistically significant differences in FAST total scores (p = 0.008). Patients performed worse than healthy controls on all CVLT sub-tests (p < 0.030) and in the number of correctly completed categories on WCST (p = 0.030). Siblings did not differ from healthy controls in cognitive tests. Unaffected siblings of patients with BD may show poorer functional performance compared to healthy controls. FAST scores may contribute to the development of markers of vulnerability and endophenotypic traits in at-risk populations.

Clinical validation of the planar radionuclide ventriculography in patients with right ventricular dysfunction.

PubMed

Bontemps, L; Merabet, Y; Chevalier, P; Itti, R

2013-01-01

Gated radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) may be used for the evaluation of the right ventricular function. However, the accuracy of the method should be clinically validated in patients suffering from diseases with specific pathology of the right ventricle (RV) and with possible left ventricular (LV) interaction. Three groups of 15 patients each, diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) or atrial septal defect (ASD) were compared to a group of normal subjects. The parameters for both ventricles were evaluated separately (ejection fractions: LVEF and RVEF, and intraventricular synchronism quantified as phase standard deviation: LVPSD and RVPSD) as well as the relation or interdependence of the right to left ventricle (RV/LV volume ratio, LV/RV ejection fraction and stroke volume ratios, and interventricular synchronism). All the variables as a whole were analyzed to identify groups of patients according to their functional behaviour. Significant differences were found between the patients and control group for the RV function while the LV function remained mostly within normal limits. When the RV function was considered, the control group and ASD patient group showed differences regarding the ARVD and PAH patients. On evaluating the RV/LV ratios, differences were found between the control group and the ASD group. In the PAH patients, LV function showed differences in relation to the rest of the groups. RNV is a reliable clinical tool to evaluate RV function in patients with RV abnormality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMNIM. All rights reserved.

Surface functionalization of microwave plasma-synthesized silica nanoparticles for enhancing the stability of dispersions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sehlleier, Yee Hwa; Abdali, Ali; Schnurre, Sophie Marie; Wiggers, Hartmut; Schulz, Christof

2014-08-01

Gas phase-synthesized silica nanoparticles were functionalized with three different silane coupling agents (SCAs) including amine, amine/phosphonate and octyltriethoxy functional groups and the stability of dispersions in polar and non-polar dispersing media such as water, ethanol, methanol, chloroform, benzene, and toluene was studied. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that all three SCAs are chemically attached to the surface of silica nanoparticles. Amine-functionalized particles using steric dispersion stabilization alone showed limited stability. Thus, an additional SCA with sufficiently long hydrocarbon chains and strong positively charged phosphonate groups was introduced in order to achieve electrosteric stabilization. Steric stabilization was successful with hydrophobic octyltriethoxy-functionalized silica nanoparticles in non-polar solvents. The results from dynamic light scattering measurements showed that in dispersions of amine/phosphonate- and octyltriethoxy-functionalized silica particles are dispersed on a primary particle level. Stable dispersions were successfully prepared from initially agglomerated nanoparticles synthesized in a microwave plasma reactor by designing the surface functionalization.

Low protective PON1 lactonase activity in an Arab population with high rates of coronary heart disease and diabetes.

PubMed

Gugliucci, A; Caccavello, R; Nassar, H; Abu Ahmad, W; Sinnreich, R; Kark, J D

2015-05-20

Recent studies showing that high density lipoproteins (HDL) can effect plaque regression indicate that recent trial failures do not exclude an atheroprotective role of HDL. Instead, they highlight differences between HDL function and measured HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). PON1 is one key functional activity of HDL. Urban Palestinians have lower HDL-C and a higher incidence and mortality of coronary heart disease than those of Israelis. We hypothesized that the cardioprotective PON1 lactonase and arylesterase activities and PON1 functional genotype may differ between Palestinians and Israelis. We measured PON1 activities in a cross-sectional population-based study of Palestinian (n=960) and Israeli (n=694) residents in Jerusalem, 1654 participants in all. Palestinians had high prevalences of obesity and diabetes and low mean concentrations of HDL-cholesterol (0.97 mmol/l in men and 1.19 mmol/l in women). Lactonase and arylesterase activities were lower by 10.8% (p=1.2∗10(-14)) and 2.7% (p<0.0005), respectively, in Palestinians as compared to Israelis. The functional genotype distribution, demonstrated by plotting paraoxonase vs lactonase activities, showed a modest between-group difference (p=0.024), with 12.1% RR in Palestinian Arabs vs 8.4% in Israeli Jews, but no overall difference in allele frequencies. Lactonase correlated inversely with age (Spearman's rho=-.156), weakly with BMI (-.059), positively with HDL-C (.173) and non-HDL-C (.103), but was not associated with triglycerides or fasting glucose. Palestinians showed consistently lower lactonase activity in logistic regression models adjusted for multiple covariates and for functional genotype (odds ratios of 1.81 and 1.98, respectively, for the lower fifth vs the upper 4 fifths of lactonase activity p<0.0001). We showed a lower physiologically-significant lactonase PON1 activity in an Arab population, a finding consistent with the high cardiovascular and diabetes risk of Palestinians. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

fMRI and MEG in the study of typical and atypical cognitive development.

PubMed

Taylor, M J; Donner, E J; Pang, E W

2012-01-01

The tremendous changes in brain structure over childhood are critical to the development of cognitive functions. Neuroimaging provides a means of linking these brain-behaviour relations, as task protocols can be adapted for use with young children to assess the development of cognitive functions in both typical and atypical populations. This paper reviews some of our research using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional MRI (fMRI) in the study of cognitive development, with a focus on frontal lobe functions. Working memory for complex abstract patterns showed clear development in terms of the recruitment of frontal regions, seen with fMRI, with indications of strategy differences across the age range, from 6 to 35 years of age. Right hippocampal involvement was also evident in these n-back tasks, demonstrating its involvement in recognition in simple working memory protocols. Children born very preterm (7 to 9 years of age) showed reduced fMRI activation particularly in the precuneus and right hippocampal regions relative to control children. In a large normative n-back study (n=90) with upright and inverted faces, MEG data also showed right hippocampal activation that was present across the age range; frontal sources were evident only from 10 years of age. Other studies have investigated the development of set shifting, an executive function that is often deficit in atypical populations. fMRI showed recruitment of frontal areas, including the insula, that have significantly different patterns in children (7 to 14 years of age) with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing children, indicating that successful performance implicated differing strategies in these two groups of children. These types of studies will help our understanding of both normal brain-behaviour development and cognitive dysfunction in atypically developing populations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Evaluation and integration of functional annotation pipelines for newly sequenced organisms: the potato genome as a test case.

PubMed

Amar, David; Frades, Itziar; Danek, Agnieszka; Goldberg, Tatyana; Sharma, Sanjeev K; Hedley, Pete E; Proux-Wera, Estelle; Andreasson, Erik; Shamir, Ron; Tzfadia, Oren; Alexandersson, Erik

2014-12-05

For most organisms, even if their genome sequence is available, little functional information about individual genes or proteins exists. Several annotation pipelines have been developed for functional analysis based on sequence, 'omics', and literature data. However, researchers encounter little guidance on how well they perform. Here, we used the recently sequenced potato genome as a case study. The potato genome was selected since its genome is newly sequenced and it is a non-model plant even if there is relatively ample information on individual potato genes, and multiple gene expression profiles are available. We show that the automatic gene annotations of potato have low accuracy when compared to a "gold standard" based on experimentally validated potato genes. Furthermore, we evaluate six state-of-the-art annotation pipelines and show that their predictions are markedly dissimilar (Jaccard similarity coefficient of 0.27 between pipelines on average). To overcome this discrepancy, we introduce a simple GO structure-based algorithm that reconciles the predictions of the different pipelines. We show that the integrated annotation covers more genes, increases by over 50% the number of highly co-expressed GO processes, and obtains much higher agreement with the gold standard. We find that different annotation pipelines produce different results, and show how to integrate them into a unified annotation that is of higher quality than each single pipeline. We offer an improved functional annotation of both PGSC and ITAG potato gene models, as well as tools that can be applied to additional pipelines and improve annotation in other organisms. This will greatly aid future functional analysis of '-omics' datasets from potato and other organisms with newly sequenced genomes. The new potato annotations are available with this paper.

Supersymmetric Adler functions and holography

DOE PAGES

Iwanaga, Masaya; Karch, Andreas; Sakai, Tadakatsu

2016-09-16

Here, we perform several tests on a recent proposal by Shifman and Stepanyantz for an exact expression for the current correlation functions in supersymmetric gauge theories. We clarify the meaning of the relation in superconformal theories. In particular we show that it automatically follows from known relations between the current correlation functions and anomalies. It therefore also automatically matches between different dual realizations of the same superconformal theory. We use holographic examples as well as calculations in free theories to show that the proposed relation fails in theories with mass terms.

Connection formulas for thermal density functional theory

DOE PAGES

Pribram-Jones, A.; Burke, K.

2016-05-23

We show that the adiabatic connection formula of ground-state density functional theory relates the correlation energy to a coupling-constant integral over a purely potential contribution, and is widely used to understand and improve approximations. The corresponding formula for thermal density functional theory is cast as an integral over temperatures instead, ranging upward from the system's physical temperature. We also show how to relate different correlation components to each other, either in terms of temperature or coupling-constant integrations. Lastly, we illustrate our results on the uniform electron gas.

Functionality predictors in acquired brain damage.

PubMed

Huertas Hoyas, E; Pedrero Pérez, E J; Águila Maturana, A M; García López-Alberca, S; González Alted, C

2015-01-01

Most individuals who have survived an acquired brain injury present consequences affecting the sensorimotor, cognitive, affective or behavioural components. These deficits affect the proper performance of daily living activities. The aim of this study is to identify functional differences between individuals with unilateral acquired brain injury using functional independence, capacity, and performance of daily activities. Descriptive cross-sectional design with a sample of 58 people, with right-sided injury (n=14 TBI; n=15 stroke) or left-sided injury (n = 14 TBI, n = 15 stroke), right handed, and with a mean age of 47 years and time since onset of 4 ± 3.65 years. The functional assessment/functional independence measure (FIM/FAM) and the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) were used for the study. The data showed significant differences (P<.000), and a large size effect (dr=0.78) in the cross-sectional estimates, and point to fewer restrictions for patients with a lesion on their right side. The major differences were in the variables 'speaking' and 'receiving spoken messages' (ICF variables), and 'Expression', 'Writing' and 'intelligible speech' (FIM/FAM variables). In the linear regression analysis, the results showed that only 4 FIM/FAM variables, taken together, predict 44% of the ICF variance, which measures the ability of the individual, and up to 52% of the ICF, which measures the individual's performance. Gait alone predicts a 28% of the variance. It seems that individuals with acquired brain injury in the left hemisphere display important differences regarding functional and communication variables. The motor aspects are an important prognostic factor in functional rehabilitation. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Effect of ante-mortem hypoxia on the physicochemical and functional properties of white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) muscle stored on ice.

PubMed

García-Sifuentes, Celia Olivia; Pacheco-Aguilar, Ramón; Scheuren-Acevedo, Susana María; Carvallo-Ruiz, Gisela; Garcia-Sanchez, Guillermina; Gollas-Galván, Teresa; Hernández-López, Jorge

2013-06-01

The effect of ante-mortem hypoxia on the physicochemical and functional properties of raw and cooked white shrimp was studied. Hue angle was greater (p ≤ 0.05) for stressed raw shrimp compared to control (greener color); whereas a lower angle was detected for cooked stressed shrimp (redder/orange coloration). In addition, hue angle increased (p ≤ 0.05) over the ice storage period for control and stressed shrimp (raw and/or cooked). Muscle hardness and shear force showed no differences when comparing control and stressed shrimp (raw and/or cooked). However, during ice storage, shear force increased (p ≤ 0.05) by 22% and 9% for control and stressed raw shrimp, respectively; in contrast, shear force and muscle hardness decreased for cooked shrimp (p ≤ 0.05). Control showed more (p ≤ 0.05) elasticity than stressed cooked shrimp. Stressed raw shrimp showed a water holding capacity 10.8% lower (p ≤ 0.05) than control. However, during the storage, water holding capacity increased (p ≤ 0.05) reaching similar values to control after day 4. Muscle protein solubility of stressed shrimp was 31% lower than control; however, no differences (p > 0.05) were observed after the second day. The thermal stability of myosin (T max) showed differences (p ≤ 0.05) among control and stressed shrimp, whereas no differences for ΔH were observed. Results showed the influence of ante-mortem hypoxia on the physicochemical and functional properties of white shrimp muscle.

Solute-solvent cavity and bridge functions. I. Varying size of the solute

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vyalov, I., E-mail: ivan.vyalov@iit.it; Chuev, G., E-mail: genchuev@rambler.ru; Georgi, N., E-mail: georgi@mis.mpg.de

2014-08-21

In this work we present the results of the extensive molecular simulations of solute-solvent cavity and bridge functions. The mixtures of Lennard-Jones solvent with Lennard-Jones solute at infinite dilution are considered for different solute-solvent size ratios—up to 4:1. The Percus-Yevick and hypernetted chain closures deviate substantially from simulation results in the investigated temperature and density ranges. We also find that the behavior of the indirect and cavity correlation functions is non-monotonous within the hard-core region, but the latter can be successfully approximated by mean-field theory if the solute-solvent interaction energy is divided into repulsive and attractive contribution, according to Weeks-Chandler-Andersenmore » theory. Furthermore, in spite of the non-monotonous behavior of logarithm of the cavity function and the indirect correlation function, their difference, i.e., the bridge function remains constant within the hard-core region. Such behavior of the bridge and indirect correlation functions at small distances and for small values of indirect correlation function is well known from the Duh-Haymet plots, where the non-unique relationship results in loops of the bridge function vs. indirect correlation function graphs. We show that the same pathological behavior appears also when distance is small and indirect correlation function is large. We further show that the unique functional behavior of the bridge function can be established when bridge is represented as a function of the renormalized, repulsive indirect correlation function.« less

Eccentric-Overload Training in Team-Sport Functional Performance: Constant Bilateral Vertical Versus Variable Unilateral Multidirectional Movements.

PubMed

Gonzalo-Skok, Oliver; Tous-Fajardo, Julio; Valero-Campo, Carlos; Berzosa, César; Bataller, Ana Vanessa; Arjol-Serrano, José Luis; Moras, Gerard; Mendez-Villanueva, Alberto

2017-08-01

To analyze the effects of 2 different eccentric-overload training (EOT) programs, using a rotational conical pulley, on functional performance in team-sport players. A traditional movement paradigm (ie, squat) including several sets of 1 bilateral and vertical movement was compared with a novel paradigm including a different exercise in each set of unilateral and multi-directional movements. Forty-eight amateur or semiprofessional team-sport players were randomly assigned to an EOT program including either the same bilateral vertical (CBV, n = 24) movement (squat) or different unilateral multidirectional (VUMD, n = 24) movements. Training programs consisted of 6 sets of 1 exercise (CBV) or 1 set of 6 exercises (VUMD) × 6-10 repetitions with 3 min of passive recovery between sets and exercises, biweekly for 8 wk. Functional-performance assessment included several change-of-direction (COD) tests, a 25-m linear-sprint test, unilateral multidirectional jumping tests (ie, lateral, horizontal, and vertical), and a bilateral vertical-jump test. Within-group analysis showed substantial improvements in all tests in both groups, with VUMD showing more robust adaptations in pooled COD tests and lateral/horizontal jumping, whereas the opposite occurred in CBV respecting linear sprinting and vertical jumping. Between-groups analyses showed substantially better results in lateral jumps (ES = 0.21), left-leg horizontal jump (ES = 0.35), and 10-m COD with right leg (ES = 0.42) in VUMD than in CBV. In contrast, left-leg countermovement jump (ES = 0.26) was possibly better in CBV than in VUMD. Eight weeks of EOT induced substantial improvements in functional-performance tests, although the force-vector application may play a key role to develop different and specific functional adaptations.

Characterization of Window Functions for Regularization of Electrical Capacitance Tomography Image Reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Peng; Peng, Lihui; Xiao, Deyun

2007-06-01

This paper presents a regularization method by using different window functions as regularization for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) image reconstruction. Image reconstruction for ECT is a typical ill-posed inverse problem. Because of the small singular values of the sensitivity matrix, the solution is sensitive to the measurement noise. The proposed method uses the spectral filtering properties of different window functions to make the solution stable by suppressing the noise in measurements. The window functions, such as the Hanning window, the cosine window and so on, are modified for ECT image reconstruction. Simulations with respect to five typical permittivity distributions are carried out. The reconstructions are better and some of the contours are clearer than the results from the Tikhonov regularization. Numerical results show that the feasibility of the image reconstruction algorithm using different window functions as regularization.

Computational models of basal-ganglia pathway functions: focus on functional neuroanatomy

PubMed Central

Schroll, Henning; Hamker, Fred H.

2013-01-01

Over the past 15 years, computational models have had a considerable impact on basal-ganglia research. Most of these models implement multiple distinct basal-ganglia pathways and assume them to fulfill different functions. As there is now a multitude of different models, it has become complex to keep track of their various, sometimes just marginally different assumptions on pathway functions. Moreover, it has become a challenge to oversee to what extent individual assumptions are corroborated or challenged by empirical data. Focusing on computational, but also considering non-computational models, we review influential concepts of pathway functions and show to what extent they are compatible with or contradict each other. Moreover, we outline how empirical evidence favors or challenges specific model assumptions and propose experiments that allow testing assumptions against each other. PMID:24416002

The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions

PubMed Central

Miyake, Akira; Friedman, Naomi P.

2012-01-01

Executive functions (EFs)—a set of general-purpose control processes that regulate one’s thoughts and behaviors—have become a popular research topic lately and have been studied in many subdisciplines of psychological science. This article summarizes the EF research that our group has conducted to understand the nature of individual differences in EFs and their cognitive and biological underpinnings. In the context of a new theoretical framework that we have been developing (the unity/diversity framework), we describe four general conclusions that have emerged from our research. Specifically, we argue that individual differences in EFs, as measured with simple laboratory tasks, (1) show both unity and diversity (different EFs are correlated yet separable); (2) reflect substantial genetic contributions; (3) are related to various clinically and societally important phenomena; and (4) show some developmental stability. PMID:22773897

Orthogonality of embedded wave functions for different states in frozen-density embedding theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zech, Alexander; Wesolowski, Tomasz A.; Aquilante, Francesco

2015-10-28

Other than lowest-energy stationary embedded wave functions obtained in Frozen-Density Embedding Theory (FDET) [T. A. Wesolowski, Phys. Rev. A 77, 012504 (2008)] can be associated with electronic excited states but they can be mutually non-orthogonal. Although this does not violate any physical principles — embedded wave functions are only auxiliary objects used to obtain stationary densities — working with orthogonal functions has many practical advantages. In the present work, we show numerically that excitation energies obtained using conventional FDET calculations (allowing for non-orthogonality) can be obtained using embedded wave functions which are strictly orthogonal. The used method preserves the mathematicalmore » structure of FDET and self-consistency between energy, embedded wave function, and the embedding potential (they are connected through the Euler-Lagrange equations). The orthogonality is built-in through the linearization in the embedded density of the relevant components of the total energy functional. Moreover, we show formally that the differences between the expectation values of the embedded Hamiltonian are equal to the excitation energies, which is the exact result within linearized FDET. Linearized FDET is shown to be a robust approximation for a large class of reference densities.« less

Specific cognitive functions and depressive symptoms as predictors of activities of daily living in older adults with heterogeneous cognitive backgrounds

PubMed Central

de Paula, Jonas J.; Diniz, Breno S.; Bicalho, Maria A.; Albuquerque, Maicon Rodrigues; Nicolato, Rodrigo; de Moraes, Edgar N.; Romano-Silva, Marco A.; Malloy-Diniz, Leandro F.

2015-01-01

Cognitive functioning influences activities of daily living (ADL). However, studies reporting the association between ADL and neuropsychological performance show inconsistent results regarding what specific cognitive domains are related to each specific functional domains. Additionally, whether depressive symptoms are associated with a worse functional performance in older adults is still under explored. We investigated if specific cognitive domains and depressive symptoms would affect different aspects of ADL. Participants were 274 older adults (96 normal aging participants, 85 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 93 patients probable with mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia) with low formal education (∼4 years). Measures of ADL included three complexity levels: Self-care, Instrumental-Domestic, and Instrumental-Complex. The specific cognitive functions were evaluated through a factorial strategy resulting in four cognitive domains: Executive Functions, Language/Semantic Memory, Episodic Memory, and Visuospatial Abilities. The Geriatric Depression Scale measured depressive symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis showed executive functions and episodic memory as significant predictors of Instrumental-Domestic ADL, and executive functions, episodic memory and language/semantic memory as predictors of Instrumental-Complex ADL (22 and 28% of explained variance, respectively). Ordinal regression analysis showed the influence of specific cognitive functions and depressive symptoms on each one of the instrumental ADL. We observed a heterogeneous pattern of association with explained variance ranging from 22 to 38%. Different instrumental ADL had specific cognitive predictors and depressive symptoms were predictive of ADL involving social contact. Our results suggest a specific pattern of influence depending on the specific instrumental daily living activity. PMID:26257644

Analysis of drift correction in different simulated weighing schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beatrici, A.; Rebelo, A.; Quintão, D.; Cacais, F. L.; Loayza, V. M.

2015-10-01

In the calibration of high accuracy mass standards some weighing schemes are used to reduce or eliminate the zero drift effects in mass comparators. There are different sources for the drift and different methods for its treatment. By using numerical methods, drift functions were simulated and a random term was included in each function. The comparison between the results obtained from ABABAB and ABBA weighing series was carried out. The results show a better efficacy of ABABAB method for drift with smooth variation and small randomness.

Variation in Differential and Total Cross Sections Due to Different Radial Wave Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, W., Jr.; Greene, T.

1976-01-01

Three sets of analytical wave functions are used to calculate the Na (3s---3p) transition differential and total electron excitation cross sections by Born approximations. Results show expected large variations in values. (Author/CP)

Acute toxicity of functionalized single wall carbon nanotubes: A biochemical, histopathologic and proteomics approach.

PubMed

Ahmadi, Homa; Ramezani, Mohammad; Yazdian-Robati, Rezvan; Behnam, Behzad; Razavi Azarkhiavi, Kamal; Hashem Nia, Azadeh; Mokhtarzadeh, Ahad; Matbou Riahi, Maryam; Razavi, Bibi Marjan; Abnous, Khalil

2017-09-25

Recently carbon nanotubes (CNTs) showed promising potentials in different biomedical applications but their safe use in humans and probable toxicities are still challenging. The aim of this study was to determine the acute toxicity of functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). In this project, PEGylated and Tween functionalized SWCNTs were prepared. BALB/c mice were randomly divided into nine groups, including PEGylated SWCNTs (75,150μg/mouse) and PEG, Tween80 suspended SWCNTs, Tween 80 and a control group (intact mice). One or 7 days after intravenous injection, the mice were killed and serum and livers were collected. The oxidative stress markers, biochemical and histopathological changes were studied. Subsequently, proteomics approach was used to investigate the alterations of protein expression profiles in the liver. Results showed that there were not any significant differences in malondealdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) levels and biochemical enzymes (ALT and AST) between groups, while the histopathological observations of livers showed some injuries. The results of proteomics analysis revealed indolethylamine N-Methyltransferase (INMT), glycine N-Methyltransferase (GNMT), selenium binding protein (Selenbp), thioredoxin peroxidase (TPx), TNF receptor associated protein 1(Trap1), peroxiredoxin-6 (Prdx6), electron transport flavoprotein (Etf-α), regucalcin (Rgn) and ATP5b proteins were differentially expressed in functionalized SWCNTs groups. Western blot analyses confirmed that the changes in Prdx6 were consistent with 2-DE gel analysis. In summary, acute toxicological study on two functionalized SWCNTs did not show any significant toxicity at selected doses. Proteomics analysis also showed that following exposure to functionalized SWCNTs, the expression of some proteins with antioxidant activity and detoxifying properties were increased in liver tissue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

To boost or to CRUNCH? Effect of effortful encoding on episodic memory in older adults is dependent on executive functioning

PubMed Central

Fu, Li; Maes, Joseph H. R.; Kessels, Roy P. C.; Daselaar, Sander M.

2017-01-01

It is essential to develop effective interventions aimed at ameliorating age-related cognitive decline. Previous studies found that effortful encoding benefits episodic memory in older adults. However, to date it is unclear whether this benefit is different for individuals with strong versus weak executive functioning (EF). Fifty-one older adults were recruited and divided into low (N = 26) and high (N = 25) functioning groups, based on their EF capacity. All participants performed a semantic and a perceptual incidental encoding task. Each encoding task was performed under four difficulty levels to establish different effort levels. Encoding was followed by a recognition task. Results showed that the high EF group benefitted from increased effort in both tasks. However, the low EF group only showed a beneficial effect under low levels of effort. Results are consistent with the Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH) and suggest that future research directed at developing efficient memory strategies to reduce negative cognitive aging effects should take individual cognitive differences among older adults into account, such as differences in EF. PMID:28328979

Conformational Rigidity and Protein Dynamics at Distinct Timescales Regulate PTP1B Activity and Allostery.

PubMed

Choy, Meng S; Li, Yang; Machado, Luciana E S F; Kunze, Micha B A; Connors, Christopher R; Wei, Xingyu; Lindorff-Larsen, Kresten; Page, Rebecca; Peti, Wolfgang

2017-02-16

Protein function originates from a cooperation of structural rigidity, dynamics at different timescales, and allostery. However, how these three pillars of protein function are integrated is still only poorly understood. Here we show how these pillars are connected in Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a drug target for diabetes and cancer that catalyzes the dephosphorylation of numerous substrates in essential signaling pathways. By combining new experimental and computational data on WT-PTP1B and ≥10 PTP1B variants in multiple states, we discovered a fundamental and evolutionarily conserved CH/π switch that is critical for positioning the catalytically important WPD loop. Furthermore, our data show that PTP1B uses conformational and dynamic allostery to regulate its activity. This shows that both conformational rigidity and dynamics are essential for controlling protein activity. This connection between rigidity and dynamics at different timescales is likely a hallmark of all enzyme function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some Biochemical and Hematological Parameters among Petrol Station Attendants: A Comparative Study

PubMed Central

Abou-ElWafa, Hala Samir; Albadry, Ahmed A.; Bazeed, Fagr B.

2015-01-01

Objective. To describe selected biochemical and hematological parameters (blood picture, liver enzymes, and kidney functions) in petrol station attendants in Mansoura city. Methods. This is a comparative cross-sectional study. The exposed group included 102 petrol station attendants. They were compared to a matched group of healthy 102 male service and office workers at the Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University. The results of blood picture, liver enzymes, and kidney functions were compared between both groups. Results. Mean Red Blood Cells (RBCs) count, hemoglobin level, and Hematocrit (HCT) level were significantly lower in petrol station attendants than the comparison group. All other blood picture parameters showed nonsignificant difference between both groups. Liver enzymes, renal functions, serum albumin, and total protein showed statistically nonsignificant difference between both groups except for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) which was significantly higher in petrol station attendants. Conclusions. Some laboratory parameters among petrol station attendants showed changes that could be attributed to workplace exposure and should be given attention at preemployment and periodic medical examination. PMID:26634207

Quality-of-life impairment after endoluminal locoregional resection and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision.

PubMed

Lezoche, Emanuele; Paganini, Alessandro M; Fabiani, Bernardina; Balla, Andrea; Vestri, Annarita; Pescatori, Lorenzo; Scoglio, Daniele; D'Ambrosio, Giancarlo; Lezoche, Giovanni

2014-01-01

For selected patients with rectal cancer, endoluminal locoregional resection (ELRR) by transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) may be an alternative treatment option to laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (LTME). Few data are available on quality of life (QoL) after LTME and TEM. This study aimed to compare short- and medium-term QoL for T1 rectal cancer patients undergoing LTME or ELRR by TEM. This study investigated 35 patients with T1N0 rectal cancer who underwent TEM (n = 17) or LTME (n = 18). Quality of life was evaluated by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-C38 questionnaires preoperatively and then 1, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Observation 1 month after LTME showed worsening in all items of both questionnaires. After ELRR, the QLQ-CR38 showed worsening of gastrointestinal (p = 0.005) and defecation problems (p = 0.001), and the QLQ-C30 showed worsening of global health status (p = 0.014), physical functioning (p = 0.02) role functioning (p = 0.003), fatigue (p = 0.002), and pain (p = 0.001). The QLQ-CR38 6 months after LTME showed worsening of body image (p = 0.009), micturition (p = 0.035), and gastrointestinal problems (p = 0.011), and the QLQ-C30 showed worsening of physical functioning (p = 0.003), role functioning (p = 0.002), fatigue (p = 0.004), and nausea/vomiting (p = 0.030). After ELRR, neither the QLQ-CR38 nor the QLQ-C30 questionnaire showed any worsening but demonstrated improvement in global health status and physical functioning. The QLQ-CR38 12 months after LTME showed significant improvement in defecation problems (p = 0.004) and weight loss (p = 0.003), and the QLQ-C30 showed significant improvement in global health status (p = 0.001), nausea and vomiting (p = 0.003), and pain (p = 0.005). After ELRR, the QLQ-C30 showed improvement in emotional functioning (p = 0.012), whereas no significant difference was observed by the QLQ-C38. Functional sequelae are present up to 1 month only after ELRR by TEM and up to 6 months after LTME. At 12 months, neither procedure showed a significant difference in QoL compared with preoperative status.

Comparison of dose response functions for EBT3 model GafChromic™ film dosimetry system.

PubMed

Aldelaijan, Saad; Devic, Slobodan

2018-05-01

Different dose response functions of EBT3 model GafChromic™ film dosimetry system have been compared in terms of sensitivity as well as uncertainty vs. error analysis. We also made an assessment of the necessity of scanning film pieces before and after irradiation. Pieces of EBT3 film model were irradiated to different dose values in Solid Water (SW) phantom. Based on images scanned in both reflection and transmission mode before and after irradiation, twelve different response functions were calculated. For every response function, a reference radiochromic film dosimetry system was established by generating calibration curve and by performing the error vs. uncertainty analysis. Response functions using pixel values from the green channel demonstrated the highest sensitivity in both transmission and reflection mode. All functions were successfully fitted with rational functional form, and provided an overall one-sigma uncertainty of better than 2% for doses above 2 Gy. Use of pre-scanned images to calculate response functions resulted in negligible improvement in dose measurement accuracy. Although reflection scanning mode provides higher sensitivity and could lead to a more widespread use of radiochromic film dosimetry, it has fairly limited dose range and slightly increased uncertainty when compared to transmission scan based response functions. Double-scanning technique, either in transmission or reflection mode, shows negligible improvement in dose accuracy as well as a negligible increase in dose uncertainty. Normalized pixel value of the images scanned in transmission mode shows linear response in a dose range of up to 11 Gy. Copyright © 2018 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Results on the Linear Equating Methods for the Non-Equivalent-Groups Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Davier, Alina A.

2008-01-01

The two most common observed-score equating functions are the linear and equipercentile functions. These are often seen as different methods, but von Davier, Holland, and Thayer showed that any equipercentile equating function can be decomposed into linear and nonlinear parts. They emphasized the dominant role of the linear part of the nonlinear…

Adsorbate Diffusion on Transition Metal Nanoparticles

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

different sizes and shapes using density functional theory calculations. We show that nanoparticles bind adsorbates more strongly than the...structure theoretical methods, a quantitative study with accurate density functional theory (DFT) calculations is still missing. Here, we perform a...functional theory . The projector augmented wave (PAW) potentials29,30 were used for electron- ion interactions and the generalized gradient approximation

Motor learning in a complex balance task and associated neuroplasticity: a comparison between endurance athletes and nonathletes.

PubMed

Seidel, Oliver; Carius, Daniel; Kenville, Rouven; Ragert, Patrick

2017-09-01

Studies suggested that motor expertise is associated with functional and structural brain alterations, which positively affect sensorimotor performance and learning capabilities. The purpose of the present study was to unravel differences in motor skill learning and associated functional neuroplasticity between endurance athletes (EA) and nonathletes (NA). For this purpose, participants had to perform a multimodal balance task (MBT) training on 2 sessions, which were separated by 1 wk. Before and after MBT training, a static balance task (SBT) had to be performed. MBT-induced functional neuroplasticity and neuromuscular alterations were assessed by means of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electromyography (EMG) during SBT performance. We hypothesized that EA would showed superior initial SBT performance and stronger MBT-induced improvements in SBT learning rates compared with NA. On a cortical level, we hypothesized that MBT training would lead to differential learning-dependent functional changes in motor-related brain regions [such as primary motor cortex (M1)] during SBT performance. In fact, EA showed superior initial SBT performance, whereas learning rates did not differ between groups. On a cortical level, fNIRS recordings (time × group interaction) revealed a stronger MBT-induced decrease in left M1 and inferior parietal lobe (IPL) for deoxygenated hemoglobin in EA. Even more interesting, learning rates were correlated with fNIRS changes in right M1/IPL. On the basis of these findings, we provide novel evidence for superior MBT training-induced functional neuroplasticity in highly trained athletes. Future studies should investigate these effects in different sports disciplines to strengthen previous work on experience-dependent neuroplasticity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Motor expertise is associated with functional/structural brain plasticity. How such neuroplastic reorganization translates into altered motor learning processes remains elusive. We investigated endurance athletes (EA) and nonathletes (NA) in a multimodal balance task (MBT). EA showed superior static balance performance (SBT), whereas MBT-induced SBT improvements did not differ between groups. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy recordings revealed a differential MBT training-induced decrease of deoxygenated hemoglobin in left primary motor cortex and inferior parietal lobe between groups. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Is Memory Search Governed by Universal Principles or Idiosyncratic Strategies?

PubMed Central

Healey, M. Karl; Kahana, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Laboratory paradigms have provided an empirical foundation for much of psychological science. Some have argued, however, that such paradigms are highly susceptible to idiosyncratic strategies and that rather than reflecting fundamental cognitive principles, many findings are artifacts of averaging across participants who employ different strategies. We develop a set of techniques to rigorously test the extent to which average data are distorted by such strategy differences and apply these techniques to free recall data from the Penn Electrophysiology of Encoding and Retrieval Study (PEERS). Recall initiation showed evidence of subgroups: the majority of participants initiate recall from the last item in the list, but one subgroup show elevated initiation probabilities for items 2–4 back from the end of the list and another showed elevated probabilities for the beginning of the list. By contrast, serial position curves and temporal and semantic clustering functions were remarkably consistent, with almost every participant exhibiting a recognizable version of the average function, suggesting that these functions reflect fundamental principles of the memory system. The approach taken here can serve as a model for evaluating the extent to which other laboratory paradigms are influenced by individual differences in strategy use. PMID:23957279

Activation of different split functionalities upon re-association of RNA-DNA hybrids

PubMed Central

Afonin, Kirill A.; Viard, Mathias; Martins, Angelica N.; Lockett, Stephen J.; Maciag, Anna E.; Freed, Eric O.; Heldman, Eliahu; Jaeger, Luc; Blumenthal, Robert; Shapiro, Bruce A.

2013-01-01

Split-protein systems, an approach that relies on fragmentation of proteins with their further conditional re-association to form functional complexes, are increasingly used for various biomedical applications. This approach offers tight control of the protein functions and improved detection sensitivity. Here we show a similar technique based on a pair of RNA-DNA hybrids that can be generally used for triggering different split functionalities. Individually, each hybrid is inactive but when two cognate hybrids re-associate, different functionalities are triggered inside mammalian cells. As a proof of concept this work is mainly focused on activation of RNA interference; however the release of other functionalities (resonance energy transfer and RNA aptamer) is also shown. Furthermore, in vivo studies demonstrate a significant uptake of the hybrids by tumors together with specific gene silencing. This split-functionality approach presents a new route in the development of “smart” nucleic acids based nanoparticles and switches for various biomedical applications. PMID:23542902

ERP evidence of preserved early memory function in term infants with neonatal encephalopathy following therapeutic hypothermia.

PubMed

Pfister, Katie M; Zhang, Lei; Miller, Neely C; Hultgren, Solveig; Boys, Chris J; Georgieff, Michael K

2016-12-01

Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) carries high risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) reduces this risk, particularly for moderate encephalopathy (ME). Nevertheless, these infants often have subtle functional deficits, including abnormal memory function. Detection of deficits at the earliest possible time-point would allow for intervention during a period of maximal brain plasticity. Recognition memory function in 22 infants with NE treated with TH was compared to 23 healthy controls using event-related potentials (ERPs) at 2 wk of age. ERPs were recorded to mother's voice alternating with a stranger's voice to assess attentional responses (P2), novelty detection (slow wave), and discrimination between familiar and novel (difference wave). Development was tested at 12 mo using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition (BSID-III). The NE group showed similar ERP components and BSID-III scores to controls. However, infants with NE showed discrimination at midline leads (P = 0.01), whereas controls showed discrimination in the left hemisphere (P = 0.05). Normal MRI (P = 0.05) and seizure-free electroencephalogram (EEG) (P = 0.04) correlated positively with outcomes. Infants with NE have preserved recognition memory function after TH. The spatially different recognition memory processing after early brain injury may represent compensatory changes in the brain circuitry and reflect a benefit of TH.

Personality and Performance in Specific Neurocognitive Domains Among Older Persons.

PubMed

Chapman, Benjamin P; Benedict, Ralph H; Lin, Feng; Roy, Shumita; Federoff, Howard J; Mapstone, Mark

2017-08-01

Certain Big 5 personality dimensions have been repeatedly linked to global measures of cognitive function and outcome categories. We examined whether the Big 5 or their specific components showed differential evidence of associations with specific neurocognitive domains. Participants were 179 older adults (70+) from a broader study on cognitive aging. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests were used. Adjusted for age, gender, and years of education, probability values, Bayes Factors, and measures effect size from linear models suggested strong evidence for associations between better delayed recall memory and higher Conscientiousness (principally the facets of Goal-Striving and Dependability) and Openness (specifically the Intellectual Interest component). Better executive function and attention showed moderate to strong evidence of associations with lower Neuroticism (especially the Self-conscious Vulnerability facet) and higher Conscientiousness (mostly the Dependability facet). Better language functioning was linked to higher Openness (specifically, the Intellectual Interests facet). Worse visual-spatial function was strongly associated with higher Neuroticism. Different tests of neurocognitive functioning show varying degrees of evidence for associations with different personality traits. Better understanding of the patterning of neurocognitive-personality linkages may facilitate grasp of underlying mechanisms and/or refine understanding of co-occurring clinical presentation of personality traits and specific cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Stress assessment based on EEG univariate features and functional connectivity measures.

PubMed

Alonso, J F; Romero, S; Ballester, M R; Antonijoan, R M; Mañanas, M A

2015-07-01

The biological response to stress originates in the brain but involves different biochemical and physiological effects. Many common clinical methods to assess stress are based on the presence of specific hormones and on features extracted from different signals, including electrocardiogram, blood pressure, skin temperature, or galvanic skin response. The aim of this paper was to assess stress using EEG-based variables obtained from univariate analysis and functional connectivity evaluation. Two different stressors, the Stroop test and sleep deprivation, were applied to 30 volunteers to find common EEG patterns related to stress effects. Results showed a decrease of the high alpha power (11 to 12 Hz), an increase in the high beta band (23 to 36 Hz, considered a busy brain indicator), and a decrease in the approximate entropy. Moreover, connectivity showed that the high beta coherence and the interhemispheric nonlinear couplings, measured by the cross mutual information function, increased significantly for both stressors, suggesting that useful stress indexes may be obtained from EEG-based features.

Uncertainty in flood damage estimates and its potential effect on investment decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagenaar, D. J.; de Bruijn, K. M.; Bouwer, L. M.; de Moel, H.

2016-01-01

This paper addresses the large differences that are found between damage estimates of different flood damage models. It explains how implicit assumptions in flood damage functions and maximum damages can have large effects on flood damage estimates. This explanation is then used to quantify the uncertainty in the damage estimates with a Monte Carlo analysis. The Monte Carlo analysis uses a damage function library with 272 functions from seven different flood damage models. The paper shows that the resulting uncertainties in estimated damages are in the order of magnitude of a factor of 2 to 5. The uncertainty is typically larger for flood events with small water depths and for smaller flood events. The implications of the uncertainty in damage estimates for flood risk management are illustrated by a case study in which the economic optimal investment strategy for a dike segment in the Netherlands is determined. The case study shows that the uncertainty in flood damage estimates can lead to significant over- or under-investments.

Microbial community structure in fermentation process of Shaoxing rice wine by Illumina-based metagenomic sequencing.

PubMed

Xie, Guangfa; Wang, Lan; Gao, Qikang; Yu, Wenjing; Hong, Xutao; Zhao, Lingyun; Zou, Huijun

2013-09-01

To understand the role of the community structure of microbes in the environment in the fermentation of Shaoxing rice wine, samples collected from a wine factory were subjected to Illumina-based metagenomic sequencing. De novo assembly of the sequencing reads allowed the characterisation of more than 23 thousand microbial genes derived from 1.7 and 1.88 Gbp of sequences from two samples fermented for 5 and 30 days respectively. The microbial community structure at different fermentation times of Shaoxing rice wine was revealed, showing the different roles of the microbiota in the fermentation process of Shaoxing rice wine. The gene function of both samples was also studied in the COG database, with most genes belonging to category S (function unknown), category E (amino acid transport and metabolism) and unclassified group. The results show that both the microbial community structure and gene function composition change greatly at different time points of Shaoxing rice wine fermentation. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Transcultural differences in brain activation patterns during theory of mind (ToM) task performance in Japanese and Caucasian participants.

PubMed

Koelkebeck, Katja; Hirao, Kazuyuki; Kawada, Ryousaku; Miyata, Jun; Saze, Teruyasu; Ubukata, Shiho; Itakura, Shoji; Kanakogi, Yasuhiro; Ohrmann, Patricia; Bauer, Jochen; Pedersen, Anya; Sawamoto, Nobukatsu; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Takahashi, Hidehiko; Murai, Toshiya

2011-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) functioning develops during certain phases of childhood. Factors such as language development and educational style seem to influence its development. Some studies that have focused on transcultural aspects of ToM development have found differences between Asian and Western cultures. To date, however, little is known about transcultural differences in neural activation patterns as they relate to ToM functioning. The aim of our study was to observe ToM functioning and differences in brain activation patterns, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study included a sample of 18 healthy Japanese and 15 healthy Caucasian subjects living in Japan. We presented a ToM task depicting geometrical shapes moving in social patterns. We also administered questionnaires to examine empathy abilities and cultural background factors. Behavioral data showed no significant group differences in the subjects' post-scan descriptions of the movies. The imaging results displayed stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in the Caucasian sample during the presentation of ToM videos. Furthermore, the task-associated activation of the MPFC was positively correlated with autistic and alexithymic features in the Japanese sample. In summary, our results showed evidence of culturally dependent sociobehavioral trait patterns, which suggests that they have an impact on brain activation patterns during information processing involving ToM.

A Meta-Analysis of Differences in IQ Profiles between Individuals with Asperger's Disorder and High-Functioning Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiang, Hsu-Min; Tsai, Luke Y.; Cheung, Ying Kuen; Brown, Alice; Li, Huacheng

2014-01-01

A meta-analysis was performed to examine differences in IQ profiles between individuals with Asperger's disorder (AspD) and high-functioning autism (HFA). Fifty-two studies were included for this study. The results showed that (a) individuals with AspD had significantly higher full-scale IQ, verbal IQ (VIQ), and performance IQ (PIQ) than did…

Regional homogeneity and functional connectivity patterns in major depressive disorder, cognitive vulnerability to depression and healthy subjects.

PubMed

Sun, Hui; Luo, Lizhu; Yuan, Xinru; Zhang, Lu; He, Yini; Yao, Shuqiao; Wang, Jiaojian; Xiao, Jing

2018-08-01

Cognitive vulnerability to depression (CVD) is a high risk for depressive disorder. Recent studies focus on individuals with CVD to determine the neural basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) neuropathology. However, whether CVD showed specific or similar brain functional activity and connectivity patterns, compared to MDD, remain largely unknown. Here, using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in subjects with CVD, healthy controls (HC) and MDD, regional homogeneity (ReHo) and resting-state functional connectivity (R-FC) analyses were conducted to assess local synchronization and changes in functional connectivity patterns. Significant ReHo differences were found in right posterior lobe of cerebellum (PLC), left lingual gyrus (LG) and precuneus. Compared to HC, CVD subjects showed increased ReHo in the PLC, which was similar to the difference found between MDD and HC. Compared to MDD patients, CVD subjects showed decreased ReHo in PLC, LG, and precuneus. R-FC analyses found increased functional connections between LG and left inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in CVD compared to both HC and MDD. Moreover, Regional mean ReHo values were positively correlated with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale scores. These analyses revealed that PLC and functional connections between LG and left inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may be a potential marker for CVD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluating in Vitro Culture Medium of Gut Microbiome with Orthogonal Experimental Design and a Metaproteomics Approach.

PubMed

Li, Leyuan; Zhang, Xu; Ning, Zhibin; Mayne, Janice; Moore, Jasmine I; Butcher, James; Chiang, Cheng-Kang; Mack, David; Stintzi, Alain; Figeys, Daniel

2018-01-05

In vitro culture based approaches are time- and cost-effective solutions for rapidly evaluating the effects of drugs or natural compounds against microbiomes. The nutritional composition of the culture medium is an important determinant for effectively maintaining the gut microbiome in vitro. This study combines orthogonal experimental design and a metaproteomics approach to obtaining functional insights into the effects of different medium components on the microbiome. Our results show that the metaproteomic profile respond differently to medium components, including inorganic salts, bile salts, mucin, and short-chain fatty acids. Multifactor analysis of variance further revealed significant main and interaction effects of inorganic salts, bile salts, and mucin on the different functional groups of gut microbial proteins. While a broad regulating effect was observed on basic metabolic pathways, different medium components also showed significant modulations on cell wall, membrane, and envelope biogenesis and cell motility related functions. In particular, flagellar assembly related proteins were significantly responsive to the presence of mucin. This study provides information on the functional influences of medium components on the in vitro growth of microbiome communities and gives insight on the key components that must be considered when selecting and optimizing media for culturing ex vivo microbiotas.

Does neuropsychological performance in OCD relate to different symptoms? A meta-analysis comparing the symmetry and obsessing dimensions.

PubMed

Bragdon, Laura B; Gibb, Brandon E; Coles, Meredith E

2018-06-19

Investigations of neuropsychological functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have produced mixed results for deficits in executive functioning (EF), attention, and memory. One potential explanation for varied findings may relate to the heterogeneity of symptom presentations, and different clinical or neurobiological characteristics may underlie these different symptoms. We investigated differences in neuropsychological functioning between two symptoms groups, obsessing/checking (O/C) and symmetry/ordering (S/O), based on data suggesting an association with different motivations: harm avoidance and incompleteness, respectively. Ten studies (with 628 patients) were included and each investigation assessed at least one of 14 neuropsychological domains. The S/O domain demonstrated small, negative correlations with overall neuropsychological functioning, performance in EF, memory, visuospatial ability, cognitive flexibility, and verbal working memory. O/C symptoms demonstrated small, negative correlations with memory and verbal memory performance. A comparison of functioning between symptom groups identified large effect sizes showing that the S/O dimension was more strongly related to poorer neuropsychological performance overall, and in the domains of attention, visuospatial ability, and the subdomain of verbal working memory. Findings support existing evidence suggesting that different OCD symptoms, and their associated core motivations, relate to unique patterns of neuropsychological functioning, and, potentially dysfunction in different neural circuits. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Individual Differences in the Alignment of Structural and Functional Markers of the V5/MT Complex in Primates

PubMed Central

Large, I.; Bridge, H.; Ahmed, B.; Clare, S.; Kolasinski, J.; Lam, W. W.; Miller, K. L.; Dyrby, T. B.; Parker, A. J.; Smith, J. E. T.; Daubney, G.; Sallet, J.; Bell, A. H.; Krug, K.

2016-01-01

Extrastriate visual area V5/MT in primates is defined both structurally by myeloarchitecture and functionally by distinct responses to visual motion. Myelination is directly identifiable from postmortem histology but also indirectly by image contrast with structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). First, we compared the identification of V5/MT using both sMRI and histology in Rhesus macaques. A section-by-section comparison of histological slices with in vivo and postmortem sMRI for the same block of cortical tissue showed precise correspondence in localizing heavy myelination for V5/MT and neighboring MST. Thus, sMRI in macaques accurately locates histologically defined myelin within areas known to be motion selective. Second, we investigated the functionally homologous human motion complex (hMT+) using high-resolution in vivo imaging. Humans showed considerable intersubject variability in hMT+ location, when defined with myelin-weighted sMRI signals to reveal structure. When comparing sMRI markers to functional MRI in response to moving stimuli, a region of high myelin signal was generally located within the hMT+ complex. However, there were considerable differences in the alignment of structural and functional markers between individuals. Our results suggest that variation in area identification for hMT+ based on structural and functional markers reflects individual differences in human regional brain architecture. PMID:27371764

Do motifs reflect evolved function?--No convergent evolution of genetic regulatory network subgraph topologies.

PubMed

Knabe, Johannes F; Nehaniv, Chrystopher L; Schilstra, Maria J

2008-01-01

Methods that analyse the topological structure of networks have recently become quite popular. Whether motifs (subgraph patterns that occur more often than in randomized networks) have specific functions as elementary computational circuits has been cause for debate. As the question is difficult to resolve with currently available biological data, we approach the issue using networks that abstractly model natural genetic regulatory networks (GRNs) which are evolved to show dynamical behaviors. Specifically one group of networks was evolved to be capable of exhibiting two different behaviors ("differentiation") in contrast to a group with a single target behavior. In both groups we find motif distribution differences within the groups to be larger than differences between them, indicating that evolutionary niches (target functions) do not necessarily mold network structure uniquely. These results show that variability operators can have a stronger influence on network topologies than selection pressures, especially when many topologies can create similar dynamics. Moreover, analysis of motif functional relevance by lesioning did not suggest that motifs were of greater importance to the functioning of the network than arbitrary subgraph patterns. Only when drastically restricting network size, so that one motif corresponds to a whole functionally evolved network, was preference for particular connection patterns found. This suggests that in non-restricted, bigger networks, entanglement with the rest of the network hinders topological subgraph analysis.

Prediction of CpG-island function: CpG clustering vs. sliding-window methods

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Unmethylated stretches of CpG dinucleotides (CpG islands) are an outstanding property of mammal genomes. Conventionally, these regions are detected by sliding window approaches using %G + C, CpG observed/expected ratio and length thresholds as main parameters. Recently, clustering methods directly detect clusters of CpG dinucleotides as a statistical property of the genome sequence. Results We compare sliding-window to clustering (i.e. CpGcluster) predictions by applying new ways to detect putative functionality of CpG islands. Analyzing the co-localization with several genomic regions as a function of window size vs. statistical significance (p-value), CpGcluster shows a higher overlap with promoter regions and highly conserved elements, at the same time showing less overlap with Alu retrotransposons. The major difference in the prediction was found for short islands (CpG islets), often exclusively predicted by CpGcluster. Many of these islets seem to be functional, as they are unmethylated, highly conserved and/or located within the promoter region. Finally, we show that window-based islands can spuriously overlap several, differentially regulated promoters as well as different methylation domains, which might indicate a wrong merge of several CpG islands into a single, very long island. The shorter CpGcluster islands seem to be much more specific when concerning the overlap with alternative transcription start sites or the detection of homogenous methylation domains. Conclusions The main difference between sliding-window approaches and clustering methods is the length of the predicted islands. Short islands, often differentially methylated, are almost exclusively predicted by CpGcluster. This suggests that CpGcluster may be the algorithm of choice to explore the function of these short, but putatively functional CpG islands. PMID:20500903

Small scale homelike special care units and traditional special care units: effects on cognition in dementia; a longitudinal controlled intervention study.

PubMed

Kok, Jeroen S; van Heuvelen, Marieke J G; Berg, Ina J; Scherder, Erik J A

2016-02-16

Evidence shows that living in small scale homelike Special Care Units (SCU) has positive effects on behavioural and psychological symptoms of patients with dementia. Effects on cognitive functioning in relation to care facilities, however, are scarcely investigated. The purpose of this study is to gain more insight into the effects of living in small scale homelike Special Care Units, compared to regular SCU's, on the course of cognitive functioning in dementia. A group of 67 patients with dementia who moved from a regular SCU to a small scale homelike SCU and a group of 48 patients with dementia who stayed in a regular SCU participated in the study. Cognitive and behavioural functioning was assessed by means of a neuropsychological test battery and observation scales one month before (baseline), as well as 3 (post) and 6 months (follow-up) after relocation. Comparing the post and follow-up measurement with the baseline measurement, no significant differences on separate measures of cognitive functioning between both groups were found. Additional analyses, however, on 'domain clusters' revealed that global cognitive functioning of the small scale homelike SCU group showed significantly less cognitive decline three months after the transfer (p < 0.05). Effect sizes (95% CI) show a tendency for better aspects of cognition in favour of the homelike small scaled SCU group, i.e., visual memory, picture recognition, cognitive decline as observed by representatives and the clustered domains episodic memory and global cognitive functioning. While there is no significant longitudinal effect on the progression of cognitive decline comparing small scaled homelike SCU's with regular SCU's for patients with dementia, analyses on the domain clusters and effect sizes cautiously suggest differences in favour of the small scaled homelike SCU for different aspects of cognition.

Electronic Excitations in Solution: The Interplay between State Specific Approaches and a Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Description.

PubMed

Guido, Ciro A; Jacquemin, Denis; Adamo, Carlo; Mennucci, Benedetta

2015-12-08

We critically analyze the performances of continuum solvation models when coupled to time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) to predict solvent effects on both absorption and emission energies of chromophores in solution. Different polarization schemes of the polarizable continuum model (PCM), such as linear response (LR) and three different state specific (SS) approaches, are considered and compared. We show the necessity of introducing a SS model in cases where large electron density rearrangements are involved in the excitations, such as charge-transfer transitions in both twisted and quadrupolar compounds, and underline the very delicate interplay between the selected polarization method and the chosen exchange-correlation functional. This interplay originates in the different descriptions of the transition and ground/excited state multipolar moments by the different functionals. As a result, the choice of both the DFT functional and the solvent polarization scheme has to be consistent with the nature of the studied electronic excitation.

Comparison of different eigensolvers for calculating vibrational spectra using low-rank, sum-of-product basis functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclerc, Arnaud; Thomas, Phillip S.; Carrington, Tucker

2017-08-01

Vibrational spectra and wavefunctions of polyatomic molecules can be calculated at low memory cost using low-rank sum-of-product (SOP) decompositions to represent basis functions generated using an iterative eigensolver. Using a SOP tensor format does not determine the iterative eigensolver. The choice of the interative eigensolver is limited by the need to restrict the rank of the SOP basis functions at every stage of the calculation. We have adapted, implemented and compared different reduced-rank algorithms based on standard iterative methods (block-Davidson algorithm, Chebyshev iteration) to calculate vibrational energy levels and wavefunctions of the 12-dimensional acetonitrile molecule. The effect of using low-rank SOP basis functions on the different methods is analysed and the numerical results are compared with those obtained with the reduced rank block power method. Relative merits of the different algorithms are presented, showing that the advantage of using a more sophisticated method, although mitigated by the use of reduced-rank SOP functions, is noticeable in terms of CPU time.

Effects of polysaccharides from different species of Dendrobium (Shihu) on macrophage function.

PubMed

Meng, Lan-Zhen; Lv, Guang-Ping; Hu, De-Jun; Cheong, Kit-Leong; Xie, Jing; Zhao, Jing; Li, Shao-Ping

2013-05-17

Dendrobium spp. are precious medicinal plants, used in China for thousands of years as health foods and nutrients. Polysaccharides are the main effective ingredients in Dendrobium plants. In this study, the chemical characteristics and the effects of crude polysaccharides (CPs) from five species of Dendrobium on macrophage function were investigated and compared in vitro for the first time. Chemical characteristic studies showed that CPs from different species of Dendrobium were diverse, displaying widely varied Mw distributions and molar ratios of monosaccharides. Their effects on macrophage functions, such as promoting phagocytosis, release of NO and cytokines IL-1α, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α, were also different. Moreover, CPs from D. officinale, especially collected from Yunnan Province, exerted the strongest immunomodulatory activities and could be explored as a novel potential functional food. The diverse chemical characteristics of CPs from different species of Dendrobium might contribute to their varied effects on macrophage functions, which should be further investigated.

A method for functional network connectivity among spatially independent resting-state components in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Jafri, Madiha J; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Stevens, Michael; Calhoun, Vince D

2008-02-15

Functional connectivity of the brain has been studied by analyzing correlation differences in time courses among seed voxels or regions with other voxels of the brain in healthy individuals as well as in patients with brain disorders. The spatial extent of strongly temporally coherent brain regions co-activated during rest has also been examined using independent component analysis (ICA). However, the weaker temporal relationships among ICA component time courses, which we operationally define as a measure of functional network connectivity (FNC), have not yet been studied. In this study, we propose an approach for evaluating FNC and apply it to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from persons with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We examined the connectivity and latency among ICA component time courses to test the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia would show increased functional connectivity and increased lag among resting state networks compared to controls. Resting state fMRI data were collected and the inter-relationships among seven selected resting state networks (identified using group ICA) were evaluated by correlating each subject's ICA time courses with one another. Patients showed higher correlation than controls among most of the dominant resting state networks. Patients also had slightly more variability in functional connectivity than controls. We present a novel approach for quantifying functional connectivity among brain networks identified with spatial ICA. Significant differences between patient and control connectivity in different networks were revealed possibly reflecting deficiencies in cortical processing in patients.

A Method for Functional Network Connectivity Among Spatially Independent Resting-State Components in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Jafri, Madiha J; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Stevens, Michael; Calhoun, Vince D

2011-01-01

Functional connectivity of the brain has been studied by analyzing correlation differences in time courses among seed voxels or regions with other voxels of the brain in patients versus controls. The spatial extent of strongly temporally coherent brain regions co-activated during rest has also been examined using independent component analysis (ICA). However, the weaker temporal relationships among ICA component time courses, which we operationally define as a measure of functional network connectivity (FNC), have not yet been studied. In this study, we propose an approach for evaluating FNC and apply it to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from persons with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We examined the connectivity and latency among ICA component time courses to test the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia would show increased functional connectivity and increased lag among resting state networks compared to controls. Resting state fMRI data were collected and the inter-relationships among seven selected resting state networks (identified using group ICA) were evaluated by correlating each subject’s ICA time courses with one another. Patients showed higher correlation than controls among most of the dominant resting state networks. Patients also had slightly more variability in functional connectivity than controls. We present a novel approach for quantifying functional connectivity among brain networks identified with spatial ICA. Significant differences between patient and control connectivity in different networks were revealed possibly reflecting deficiencies in cortical processing in patients. PMID:18082428

The extended functional neuroanatomy of emotional processing biases for masked faces in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Victor, Teresa A; Furey, Maura L; Fromm, Stephen J; Bellgowan, Patrick S F; Öhman, Arne; Drevets, Wayne C

2012-01-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with a mood-congruent processing bias in the amygdala toward face stimuli portraying sad expressions that is evident even when such stimuli are presented below the level of conscious awareness. The extended functional anatomical network that maintains this response bias has not been established, however. To identify neural network differences in the hemodynamic response to implicitly presented facial expressions between depressed and healthy control participants. Unmedicated-depressed participants with MDD (n=22) and healthy controls (HC; n=25) underwent functional MRI as they viewed face stimuli showing sad, happy or neutral face expressions, presented using a backward masking design. The blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal was measured to identify regions where the hemodynamic response to the emotionally valenced stimuli differed between groups. The MDD subjects showed greater BOLD responses than the controls to masked-sad versus masked-happy faces in the hippocampus, amygdala and anterior inferotemporal cortex. While viewing both masked-sad and masked-happy faces relative to masked-neutral faces, the depressed subjects showed greater hemodynamic responses than the controls in a network that included the medial and orbital prefrontal cortices and anterior temporal cortex. Depressed and healthy participants showed distinct hemodynamic responses to masked-sad and masked-happy faces in neural circuits known to support the processing of emotionally valenced stimuli and to integrate the sensory and visceromotor aspects of emotional behavior. Altered function within these networks in MDD may establish and maintain illness-associated differences in the salience of sensory/social stimuli, such that attention is biased toward negative and away from positive stimuli.

Routes of Motivation: Stable Psychological Dispositions Are Associated with Dynamic Changes in Cortico-Cortical Functional Connectivity

PubMed Central

Viola, Vanda; Tosoni, Annalisa; Kruglanski, Arie W.; Galati, Gaspare; Mannetti, Lucia

2014-01-01

The present study provides a neurobiological framework to the theory of epistemic motivation that has been extensively studied for the last three decades in the domain of social cognition. Epistemic motivations affect the way people generate and validate hypotheses, and ultimately form and modify knowledge. Strong dispositional measures such as need for cognitive closure (NCC), the desire for a quick firm answer (any answer) to a question, show gross and stable inter-individual differences. The cognitive mechanisms and neural underpinnings of such differences, however, remain largely unexplored. Here we show that high (compared to low) levels of NCC, measured with need for cognitive closure scale, are associated with reduced online adjustment in cognitive control, as indexed by behavioral conflict adaptation. This behavioral effect is mediated by dynamic changes in cortico-cortical functional connectivity between prefrontal regions involved in conflict monitoring and implementation of cognitive control. In particular, these regions show increased functional connectivity after exposure to conflict in low but not high NCC individuals. These results demonstrate that the level of flexibility of functional cortico-cortical connections can mediate stable psychological dispositions. PMID:24892718

Optimization of Spinal Muscular Atrophy subject's muscle activity during gait

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umat, Gazlia; Rambely, Azmin Sham

2014-06-01

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a hereditary disease related muscle nerve disorder caused by degeneration of the anterior cells of the spinal cord. SMA is divided into four types according to the degree of seriousness. SMA patients show different gait with normal people. Therefore, this study focused on the effects of SMA patient muscle actions and the difference that exists between SMA subjects and normal subjects. Therefore, the electromyography (EMG) test will be used to track the behavior of muscle during walking and optimization methods are used to get the muscle stress that is capable of doing the work while walking. Involved objective function is non-linear function of the quadratic and cubic functions. The study concludes with a comparison of the objective function using the force that sought to use the moment of previous studies and the objective function using the data obtained from EMG. The results shows that the same muscles, peroneus longus and bisepsfemoris, were used during walking activity by SMA subjects and control subjects. Muscle stress force best solution achieved from part D in simulation carried out.

Metagenomes reveal microbial structures, functional potentials, and biofouling-related genes in a membrane bioreactor.

PubMed

Ma, Jinxing; Wang, Zhiwei; Li, Huan; Park, Hee-Deung; Wu, Zhichao

2016-06-01

Metagenomic sequencing was used to investigate the microbial structures, functional potentials, and biofouling-related genes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The results showed that the microbial community in the MBR was highly diverse. Notably, function analysis of the dominant genera indicated that common genes from different phylotypes were identified for important functional potentials with the observation of variation of abundances of genes in a certain taxon (e.g., Dechloromonas). Despite maintaining similar metabolic functional potentials with a parallel full-scale conventional activated sludge (CAS) system due to treating the identical wastewater, the MBR had more abundant nitrification-related bacteria and coding genes of ammonia monooxygenase, which could well explain its excellent ammonia removal in the low-temperature period. Furthermore, according to quantification of the genes involved in exopolysaccharide and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) protein metabolism, the MBR did not show a much different potential in producing EPS compared to the CAS system, and bacteria from the membrane biofilm had lower abundances of genes associated with EPS biosynthesis and transport compared to the activated sludge in the MBR.

The effects of progressive neuromuscular training on postural balance and functionality in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study

PubMed Central

Sazo-Rodríguez, Sergio; Méndez-Rebolledo, Guillermo; Guzmán-Muñoz, Eduardo; Rubio-Palma, Paulo

2017-01-01

[Purpose] To determine the effects of progressive neuromuscular training on postural balance and functionality in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). [Subjects and Methods] Eleven participants between 60 and 75 years of age performed the progressive neuromuscular training for 8 weeks and 4 weeks of follow-up. The area and velocity of the center of pressure were measured on a force platform, and the functionality was measured with a Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index. [Results] The area and velocity (anteroposterior and mediolateral directions) of the center of pressure showed significant differences after 4 and 8 weeks of intervention. Additionally, the global score and some questionnaire dimensions (pain and physical function) showed significant differences after 4 and 8 weeks of intervention. These changes were maintained in all variables at week 4 of follow-up. [Conclusion] The intervention generated improvements in balance and functionality in elderly patients with knee OA. These changes were observed after 4 weeks of training and were maintained 4 weeks after the end of the intervention. PMID:28744054

The distance function effect on k-nearest neighbor classification for medical datasets.

PubMed

Hu, Li-Yu; Huang, Min-Wei; Ke, Shih-Wen; Tsai, Chih-Fong

2016-01-01

K-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classification is conventional non-parametric classifier, which has been used as the baseline classifier in many pattern classification problems. It is based on measuring the distances between the test data and each of the training data to decide the final classification output. Since the Euclidean distance function is the most widely used distance metric in k-NN, no study examines the classification performance of k-NN by different distance functions, especially for various medical domain problems. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate whether the distance function can affect the k-NN performance over different medical datasets. Our experiments are based on three different types of medical datasets containing categorical, numerical, and mixed types of data and four different distance functions including Euclidean, cosine, Chi square, and Minkowsky are used during k-NN classification individually. The experimental results show that using the Chi square distance function is the best choice for the three different types of datasets. However, using the cosine and Euclidean (and Minkowsky) distance function perform the worst over the mixed type of datasets. In this paper, we demonstrate that the chosen distance function can affect the classification accuracy of the k-NN classifier. For the medical domain datasets including the categorical, numerical, and mixed types of data, K-NN based on the Chi square distance function performs the best.

Gender differences in brain structure and resting-state functional connectivity related to narcissistic personality.

PubMed

Yang, Wenjing; Cun, Lingli; Du, Xue; Yang, Junyi; Wang, Yanqiu; Wei, Dongtao; Zhang, Qinglin; Qiu, Jiang

2015-06-25

Although cognitive and personality studies have observed gender differences in narcissism, the neural bases of these differences remain unknown. The current study combined the voxel-based morphometry and resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses to explore the sex-specific neural basis of narcissistic personality. The VBM results showed that the relationship between narcissistic personality and regional gray matter volume (rGMV) differed between sexes. Narcissistic scores had a significant positive correlation with the rGMV of the right SPL in females, but not in males. Further analyses were conducted to investigate the sex-specific relationship between rsFC and narcissism, using right SPL/frontal eye fields (FEF) as the seed regions (key nodes of the dorsal attention network, DAN). Interestingly, decreased anticorrelations between the right SPL/FEF and areas of the precuneus and middle frontal gyrus (key nodes of the the default mode network, DMN) were associated with higher narcissistic personality scores in males, whereas females showed the opposite tendency. The findings indicate that gender differences in narcissism may be associated with differences in the intrinsic and dynamic interplay between the internally-directed DMN and the externally-directed TPN. Morphometry and functional connectivity analyses can enhance our understanding of the neural basis of sex-specific narcissism.

Gender differences in brain structure and resting-state functional connectivity related to narcissistic personality

PubMed Central

Yang, Wenjing; Cun, Lingli; Du, Xue; Yang, Junyi; Wang, Yanqiu; Wei, Dongtao; Zhang, Qinglin; Qiu, Jiang

2015-01-01

Although cognitive and personality studies have observed gender differences in narcissism, the neural bases of these differences remain unknown. The current study combined the voxel-based morphometry and resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses to explore the sex-specific neural basis of narcissistic personality. The VBM results showed that the relationship between narcissistic personality and regional gray matter volume (rGMV) differed between sexes. Narcissistic scores had a significant positive correlation with the rGMV of the right SPL in females, but not in males. Further analyses were conducted to investigate the sex-specific relationship between rsFC and narcissism, using right SPL/frontal eye fields (FEF) as the seed regions (key nodes of the dorsal attention network, DAN). Interestingly, decreased anticorrelations between the right SPL/FEF and areas of the precuneus and middle frontal gyrus (key nodes of the the default mode network, DMN) were associated with higher narcissistic personality scores in males, whereas females showed the opposite tendency. The findings indicate that gender differences in narcissism may be associated with differences in the intrinsic and dynamic interplay between the internally-directed DMN and the externally-directed TPN. Morphometry and functional connectivity analyses can enhance our understanding of the neural basis of sex-specific narcissism. PMID:26109334

Age differences in the intrinsic functional connectivity of default network subsystems

PubMed Central

Campbell, Karen L.; Grigg, Omer; Saverino, Cristina; Churchill, Nathan; Grady, Cheryl L.

2013-01-01

Recent work suggests that the default mode network (DMN) includes two core regions, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and several unique subsystems that are functionally distinct. These include a medial temporal lobe (MTL) subsystem, active during remembering and future projection, and a dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) subsystem, active during self-reference. The PCC has been further subdivided into ventral (vPCC) and dorsal (dPCC) regions that are more strongly connected with the DMN and cognitive control networks, respectively. The goal of this study was to examine age differences in resting state functional connectivity within these subsystems. After applying a rigorous procedure to reduce the effects of head motion, we used a multivariate technique to identify both common and unique patterns of functional connectivity in the MTL vs. the dmPFC, and in vPCC vs. dPCC. All four areas had robust functional connectivity with other DMN regions, and each also showed distinct connectivity patterns in both age groups. Young and older adults had equivalent functional connectivity in the MTL subsystem. Older adults showed weaker connectivity in the vPCC and dmPFC subsystems, particularly with other DMN areas, but stronger connectivity than younger adults in the dPCC subsystem, which included areas involved in cognitive control. Our data provide evidence for distinct subsystems involving DMN nodes, which are maintained with age. Nevertheless, there are age differences in the strength of functional connectivity within these subsystems, supporting prior evidence that DMN connectivity is particularly vulnerable to age, whereas connectivity involving cognitive control regions is relatively maintained. These results suggest an age difference in the integrated activity among brain networks that can have implications for cognition in older adults. PMID:24294203

Sex differences in obesity and cognitive function in a cognitively normal aging Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Li, Wei; Qiu, Qi; Sun, Lin; Yue, Ling; Wang, Tao; Li, Xia; Xiao, Shifu

2017-01-01

Sex differences in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment have been well recognized. However, sex differences in cognitive function and obesity in cognitively normal aging Chinese Han population have not attracted much attention. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sex, obesity, and cognitive function in an elderly Chinese population with normal cognitive function. A total of 228 cognitively normal aging participants (males/females =93/135) entered this study. Their general demographic information (sex, age, and education) was collected by standardized questionnaire. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and serum lipid levels were measured. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was used to assess participants' cognitive function. The prevalence of obesity in elderly women (18/133, 13.5%) was significantly higher than that in men (5/92, 5.4%, P =0.009). Regression analyses showed that obesity was associated with drinking alcohol (OR =13.695, P =0.045) and triglyceride (OR =1.436, P =0.048) in women and limited to low-density lipoprotein (OR =11.829, P =0.023) in men. Women performed worse on the naming score for MoCA than men ( P <0.01). Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that education ( t =3.689, P <0.001) and smoking ( t =2.031, P =0.045) were related to the score of naming in female, while high-density lipoprotein ( t =-2.077, P =0.041) was related to the score of naming in male; however, no correlation was found between body mass index and cognitive function in both male and female ( P >0.05). Our finding suggests that there are significant sex differences in obesity and specific cognitive domains in aging Chinese Han population with normal cognitive function.

Long-duration transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation alters small-world brain functional networks.

PubMed

Zhang, Yue; Jiang, Yin; Glielmi, Christopher B; Li, Longchuan; Hu, Xiaoping; Wang, Xiaoying; Han, Jisheng; Zhang, Jue; Cui, Cailian; Fang, Jing

2013-09-01

Acupuncture, which is recognized as an alternative and complementary treatment in Western medicine, has long shown efficiencies in chronic pain relief, drug addiction treatment, stroke rehabilitation and other clinical practices. The neural mechanism underlying acupuncture, however, is still unclear. Many studies have focused on the sustained effects of acupuncture on healthy subjects, yet there are very few on the topological organization of functional networks in the whole brain in response to long-duration acupuncture (longer than 20 min). This paper presents a novel study on the effects of long-duration transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on the small-world properties of brain functional networks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to construct brain functional networks of 18 healthy subjects (9 males and 9 females) during the resting state. All subjects received both TEAS and minimal TEAS (MTEAS) and were scanned before and after each stimulation. An altered functional network was found with lower local efficiency and no significant change in global efficiency for healthy subjects after TEAS, while no significant difference was observed after MTEAS. The experiments also showed that the nodal efficiencies in several paralimbic/limbic regions were altered by TEAS, and those in middle frontal gyrus and other regions by MTEAS. To remove the psychological effects and the baseline, we compared the difference between diffTEAS (difference between after and before TEAS) and diffMTEAS (difference between after and before MTEAS). The results showed that the local efficiency was decreased and that the nodal efficiencies in frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus and hippocampus gyrus were changed. Based on those observations, we conclude that long-duration TEAS may modulate the short-range connections of brain functional networks and also the limbic system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age differences in the intrinsic functional connectivity of default network subsystems.

PubMed

Campbell, Karen L; Grigg, Omer; Saverino, Cristina; Churchill, Nathan; Grady, Cheryl L

2013-01-01

Recent work suggests that the default mode network (DMN) includes two core regions, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and several unique subsystems that are functionally distinct. These include a medial temporal lobe (MTL) subsystem, active during remembering and future projection, and a dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) subsystem, active during self-reference. The PCC has been further subdivided into ventral (vPCC) and dorsal (dPCC) regions that are more strongly connected with the DMN and cognitive control networks, respectively. The goal of this study was to examine age differences in resting state functional connectivity within these subsystems. After applying a rigorous procedure to reduce the effects of head motion, we used a multivariate technique to identify both common and unique patterns of functional connectivity in the MTL vs. the dmPFC, and in vPCC vs. dPCC. All four areas had robust functional connectivity with other DMN regions, and each also showed distinct connectivity patterns in both age groups. Young and older adults had equivalent functional connectivity in the MTL subsystem. Older adults showed weaker connectivity in the vPCC and dmPFC subsystems, particularly with other DMN areas, but stronger connectivity than younger adults in the dPCC subsystem, which included areas involved in cognitive control. Our data provide evidence for distinct subsystems involving DMN nodes, which are maintained with age. Nevertheless, there are age differences in the strength of functional connectivity within these subsystems, supporting prior evidence that DMN connectivity is particularly vulnerable to age, whereas connectivity involving cognitive control regions is relatively maintained. These results suggest an age difference in the integrated activity among brain networks that can have implications for cognition in older adults.

The analysis of mathematics teachers' learning on algebra function limit material based on teaching experience difference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma'rufi, Budayasa, I. Ketut; Juniati, Dwi

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to describe the analysis of mathematics teachers' learning on algebra function limit material based on teaching experience difference. The purpose of this study is to describe the analysis of mathematics teacher's learning on limit algebraic functions in terms of the differences of teaching experience. Learning analysis focused on Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of teachers in mathematics on limit algebraic functions related to the knowledge of pedagogy. PCK of teachers on limit algebraic function is a type of specialized knowledge for teachers on how to teach limit algebraic function that can be understood by students. Subjects are two high school mathematics teacher who has difference of teaching experience they are one Novice Teacher (NP) and one Experienced Teacher (ET). Data are collected through observation of learning in the class, videos of learning, and then analyzed using qualitative analysis. Teacher's knowledge of Pedagogic defined as a knowledge and understanding of teacher about planning and organizing of learning, and application of learning strategy. The research results showed that the Knowledge of Pedagogy on subject NT in mathematics learning on the material of limit function algebra showed that the subject NT tended to describe procedurally, without explaining the reasons why such steps were used, asking questions which tended to be monotonous not be guiding and digging deeper, and less varied in the use of learning strategies while subject ET gave limited guidance and opportunities to the students to find their own answers, exploit the potential of students to answer questions, provide an opportunity for students to interact and work in groups, and subject ET tended to combine conceptual and procedural explanation.

Divergence in male cricket song and female preference functions in three allopatric sister species.

PubMed

Hennig, Ralf Matthias; Blankers, Thomas; Gray, David A

2016-05-01

Multivariate female preference functions for male sexual signals have rarely been investigated, especially in a comparative context among sister species. Here we examined male signal and female preference co-variation in three closely related, but allopatric species of Gryllus crickets and quantified male song traits as well as female preferences. We show that males differ conspicuously in either one of two relatively static song traits, carrier frequency or pulse rate; female preference functions for these traits also differed, and would in combination enhance species discrimination. In contrast, the relatively dynamic song traits, chirp rate and chirp duty cycle, show minimal divergence among species and relatively greater conservation of female preference functions. Notably, among species we demonstrate similar mechanistic rules for the integration of pulse and chirp time scales, despite divergence in pulse rate preferences. As these are allopatric taxa, selection for species recognition per se is unlikely. More likely sexual selection combined with conserved properties of preference filters enabled divergent coevolution of male song and female preferences.

Executive function deficits in short-term abstinent cannabis users.

PubMed

McHale, Sue; Hunt, Nigel

2008-07-01

Few cognitive tasks are adequately sensitive to show the small decrements in performance in abstinent chronic cannabis users. In this series of three experiments we set out to demonstrate a variety of tasks that are sufficiently sensitive to show differences in visual memory, verbal memory, everyday memory and executive function between controls and cannabis users. A series of three studies explored cognitive function deficits in cannabis users (phonemic verbal fluency, visual recognition and immediate and delayed recall, and prospective memory) in short-term abstinent cannabis users. Participants were selected using snowball sampling, with cannabis users being compared to a standard control group and a tobacco-use control group. The cannabis users, compared to both control groups, had deficits on verbal fluency, visual recognition, delayed visual recall, and short- and long-interval prospective memory. There were no differences for immediate visual recall. These findings suggest that cannabis use leads to impaired executive function. Further research needs to explore the longer term impact of cannabis use. Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Electrochemical investigation of functionalized graphene aerogel with different amount of p-phenylenediamine as an advanced electrode material for supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gholipour-Ranjbar, Habib; Ganjali, Mohammad Reza; Norouzi, Parviz; Naderi, Hamid Reza

2016-07-01

Graphene aerogel has attracted great attention as a new and efficient electrode material for supercapacitors. It can be expected that functionalization of graphene aerogels can further improve their capability. In this study, graphene aerogel functionalized with different amount of p-phenylenediamine (PPD) and the effect of PPD amount on the supercapacitive performance of functionalized graphene aerogel (FGA) was investigated. Structural characterizations showed that PPD molecules initiated graphene aerogel sheets assembly into three-dimensional structures and also increasing PPD amount led to increase in surface area. Electrochemical investigations proved that the FGA with larger pore size showed enhanced supercapacitive performance compared with the FGA with smaller pore size. The optimized FGA-based electrode exhibited outstanding specific capacitance (SC) of 385 F g-1 at a discharge current density of 1 A g-1, good rate capability (215 F g-1 at 20 A g-1), and exceptionally high cyclic stability by displaying 25% increase in SC after 5000 cycle.

On the international stability of health care expenditure functions: are government and private functions similar?

PubMed

Clemente, Jesús; Marcuello, Carmen; Montañés, Antonio; Pueyo, Fernando

2004-05-01

This paper studies the stability of health care expenditure functions in a sample of OECD countries. We adopt the cointegration approach and the results show that there is a long-term relationship between total health care expenditure (HCE) and gross domestic product (GDP). However, the existence of cointegration is only shown when we admit the presence of some changes in the elasticities of the model. Our results also provide evidence against the existence of a unique relationship between health and GDP for the sample. Thus, we can conclude that the differences in health systems may cause differences in the aggregate functions. Additionally, we examine aggregate health functions for government (GHCE) and private expenditures (PHCE), again finding evidence of different patterns of behaviour. Finally, we open a discussion on the character of health as a necessary or luxury good. In this context, we find differences between the government and the private function. In order to illustrate these findings, we propose a theoretical model as an example of the influence of political decisions on income elasticity. Copyright 2003 Elsevier B.V.

Changes in Gray Matter Density, Regional Homogeneity, and Functional Connectivity in Methamphetamine-Associated Psychosis: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Study.

PubMed

Zhang, Shengyu; Hu, Qiang; Tang, Tao; Liu, Chao; Li, Chengchong; Zang, Yin-Yin; Cai, Wei-Xiong

2018-06-13

BACKGROUND Using regional homogeneity (ReHo) blood oxygen level-dependent functional MR (BOLD-fMRI), we investigated the structural and functional alterations of brain regions among patients with methamphetamine-associated psychosis (MAP). MATERIAL AND METHODS This retrospective study included 17 MAP patients, 16 schizophrenia (SCZ) patients, and 18 healthy controls. Informed consent was obtained from all patients before the clinical assessment, the severity of clinical symptoms was evaluated prior to the fMRI scanning, and then images were acquired and preprocessed after each participant received 6-min fRMI scanning. The participants all underwent BOLD-fMRI scanning. Voxel-based morphometry was used to measure gray matter density (GMD). Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) was conducted to analyze functional MR, ReHo, and functional connectivity (FC). RESULTS GMD analysis results suggest that MAP patients, SCZ patients, and healthy volunteers show different GMDs within different brain regions. Similarly, the ReHo analysis results suggest that MAP patients, SCZ patients, and healthy volunteers have different GMDs within different brain regions. Negative correlations were found between ReHo- and the PANSS-positive scores within the left orbital interior frontal gyrus (L-orb-IFG) of MAP patients. ReHo- and PANSS-negative scores of R-SFG were negatively correlated among SCZ patients. The abnormal FC of R-MFG showed a negative correlation with the PANSS score among MAP patients. CONCLUSIONS The abnormalities in brain structure and FC were associated with the development of MAP.

Rebelling for a Reason: Protein Structural “Outliers”

PubMed Central

Arumugam, Gandhimathi; Nair, Anu G.; Hariharaputran, Sridhar; Ramanathan, Sowdhamini

2013-01-01

Analysis of structural variation in domain superfamilies can reveal constraints in protein evolution which aids protein structure prediction and classification. Structure-based sequence alignment of distantly related proteins, organized in PASS2 database, provides clues about structurally conserved regions among different functional families. Some superfamily members show large structural differences which are functionally relevant. This paper analyses the impact of structural divergence on function for multi-member superfamilies, selected from the PASS2 superfamily alignment database. Functional annotations within superfamilies, with structural outliers or ‘rebels’, are discussed in the context of structural variations. Overall, these data reinforce the idea that functional similarities cannot be extrapolated from mere structural conservation. The implication for fold-function prediction is that the functional annotations can only be inherited with very careful consideration, especially at low sequence identities. PMID:24073209

Effects of the application of ankle functional rehabilitation exercise on the ankle joint functional movement screen and isokinetic muscular function in patients with chronic ankle sprain.

PubMed

Ju, Sung-Bum; Park, Gi Duck

2017-02-01

[Purpose] This study was conducted to investigate the effects of ankle functional rehabilitation exercise on ankle joint functional movement screen results and isokinetic muscular function in patients with chronic ankle sprain patients. [Subjects and Methods] In this study, 16 patients with chronic ankle sprain were randomized to an ankle functional rehabilitation exercise group (n=8) and a control group (n=8). The ankle functional rehabilitation exercise centered on a proprioceptive sense exercise program, which was applied 12 times for 2 weeks. To verify changes after the application, ankle joint functional movement screen scores and isokinetic muscular function were measured and analyzed. [Results] The ankle functional rehabilitation exercise group showed significant improvements in all items of the ankle joint functional movement screen and in isokinetic muscular function after the exercise, whereas the control group showed no difference after the application. [Conclusion] The ankle functional rehabilitation exercise program can be effectively applied in patients with chronic ankle sprain for the improvement of ankle joint functional movement screen score and isokinetic muscular function.

Effects of the application of ankle functional rehabilitation exercise on the ankle joint functional movement screen and isokinetic muscular function in patients with chronic ankle sprain

PubMed Central

Ju, Sung-Bum; Park, Gi Duck

2017-01-01

[Purpose] This study was conducted to investigate the effects of ankle functional rehabilitation exercise on ankle joint functional movement screen results and isokinetic muscular function in patients with chronic ankle sprain patients. [Subjects and Methods] In this study, 16 patients with chronic ankle sprain were randomized to an ankle functional rehabilitation exercise group (n=8) and a control group (n=8). The ankle functional rehabilitation exercise centered on a proprioceptive sense exercise program, which was applied 12 times for 2 weeks. To verify changes after the application, ankle joint functional movement screen scores and isokinetic muscular function were measured and analyzed. [Results] The ankle functional rehabilitation exercise group showed significant improvements in all items of the ankle joint functional movement screen and in isokinetic muscular function after the exercise, whereas the control group showed no difference after the application. [Conclusion] The ankle functional rehabilitation exercise program can be effectively applied in patients with chronic ankle sprain for the improvement of ankle joint functional movement screen score and isokinetic muscular function. PMID:28265157

Regional brain volumes and cognition in childhood epilepsy: does size really matter?

PubMed

Zelko, Frank A; Pardoe, Heath R; Blackstone, Sarah R; Jackson, Graeme D; Berg, Anne T

2014-05-01

Recent studies have correlated neurocognitive function and regional brain volumes in children with epilepsy. We tested whether brain volume differences between children with and without epilepsy explained differences in neurocognitive function. The study sample included 108 individuals with uncomplicated non-syndromic epilepsy (NSE) and 36 healthy age- and gender-matched controls. Participants received a standardized cognitive battery. Whole brain T1-weighted MRI was obtained and volumes analyzed with FreeSurfer (TM). Total brain volume (TBV) was significantly smaller in cases. After adjustment for TBV, cases had significantly larger regional grey matter volumes for total, frontal, parietal, and precentral cortex. Cases had poorer performance on neurocognitive indices of intelligence and variability of sustained attention. In cases, TBV showed small associations with intellectual indices of verbal and perceptual ability, working memory, and overall IQ. In controls, TBV showed medium associations with working memory and variability of sustained attention. In both groups, small associations were seen between some TBV-adjusted regional brain volumes and neurocognitive indices, but not in a consistent pattern. Brain volume differences did not account for cognitive differences between the groups. Patients with uncomplicated NSE have smaller brains than controls but areas of relative grey matter enlargement. That this relative regional enlargement occurs in the context of poorer overall neurocognitive functioning suggests that it is not adaptive. However, the lack of consistent associations between case-control differences in brain volumes and cognitive functioning suggests that brain volumes have limited explanatory value for cognitive functioning in childhood epilepsy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Immature visual neural system in children reflected by contrast sensitivity with adaptive optics correction

PubMed Central

Liu, Rong; Zhou, Jiawei; Zhao, Haoxin; Dai, Yun; Zhang, Yudong; Tang, Yong; Zhou, Yifeng

2014-01-01

This study aimed to explore the neural development status of the visual system of children (around 8 years old) using contrast sensitivity. We achieved this by eliminating the influence of higher order aberrations (HOAs) with adaptive optics correction. We measured HOAs, modulation transfer functions (MTFs) and contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs) of six children and five adults with both corrected and uncorrected HOAs. We found that when HOAs were corrected, children and adults both showed improvements in MTF and CSF. However, the CSF of children was still lower than the adult level, indicating the difference in contrast sensitivity between groups cannot be explained by differences in optical factors. Further study showed that the difference between the groups also could not be explained by differences in non-visual factors. With these results we concluded that the neural systems underlying vision in children of around 8 years old are still immature in contrast sensitivity. PMID:24732728

A comparison of repetitive behaviors in Aspergers Disorder and high functioning autism.

PubMed

Cuccaro, Michael L; Nations, Laura; Brinkley, Jason; Abramson, Ruth K; Wright, Harry H; Hall, Alicia; Gilbert, John; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A

2007-04-01

In this study we compared 33 IQ and age matched pairs of individuals with Aspergers Disorder (ASP) and high functioning autism (HFA) on measures of repetitive behavior. On the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R), the ASP and HFA groups showed no differences in RBS-R Intensity score (severity) score or Frequency score (number of problems present). This suggests that the two groups are similar with respect to the intensity or severity of repetitive behaviors and the presence of repetitive behaviors. At the item level there were no differences on scales typically associated with autism (Stereotyped Behavior) and ASP (Restricted Interests). Similarly, there were no differences between the groups on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Stereotypy scale. These findings add to the body of literature showing that HFA and ASP fail to differ with respect to repetitive behaviors. The implications of the findings for neurobiologic and genetic studies are discussed.

Distinctive Correspondence Between Separable Visual Attention Functions and Intrinsic Brain Networks

PubMed Central

Ruiz-Rizzo, Adriana L.; Neitzel, Julia; Müller, Hermann J.; Sorg, Christian; Finke, Kathrin

2018-01-01

Separable visual attention functions are assumed to rely on distinct but interacting neural mechanisms. Bundesen's “theory of visual attention” (TVA) allows the mathematical estimation of independent parameters that characterize individuals' visual attentional capacity (i.e., visual processing speed and visual short-term memory storage capacity) and selectivity functions (i.e., top-down control and spatial laterality). However, it is unclear whether these parameters distinctively map onto different brain networks obtained from intrinsic functional connectivity, which organizes slowly fluctuating ongoing brain activity. In our study, 31 demographically homogeneous healthy young participants performed whole- and partial-report tasks and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Report accuracy was modeled using TVA to estimate, individually, the four TVA parameters. Networks encompassing cortical areas relevant for visual attention were derived from independent component analysis of rs-fMRI data: visual, executive control, right and left frontoparietal, and ventral and dorsal attention networks. Two TVA parameters were mapped on particular functional networks. First, participants with higher (vs. lower) visual processing speed showed lower functional connectivity within the ventral attention network. Second, participants with more (vs. less) efficient top-down control showed higher functional connectivity within the dorsal attention network and lower functional connectivity within the visual network. Additionally, higher performance was associated with higher functional connectivity between networks: specifically, between the ventral attention and right frontoparietal networks for visual processing speed, and between the visual and executive control networks for top-down control. The higher inter-network functional connectivity was related to lower intra-network connectivity. These results demonstrate that separable visual attention parameters that are assumed to constitute relatively stable traits correspond distinctly to the functional connectivity both within and between particular functional networks. This implies that individual differences in basic attention functions are represented by differences in the coherence of slowly fluctuating brain activity. PMID:29662444

Distinctive Correspondence Between Separable Visual Attention Functions and Intrinsic Brain Networks.

PubMed

Ruiz-Rizzo, Adriana L; Neitzel, Julia; Müller, Hermann J; Sorg, Christian; Finke, Kathrin

2018-01-01

Separable visual attention functions are assumed to rely on distinct but interacting neural mechanisms. Bundesen's "theory of visual attention" (TVA) allows the mathematical estimation of independent parameters that characterize individuals' visual attentional capacity (i.e., visual processing speed and visual short-term memory storage capacity) and selectivity functions (i.e., top-down control and spatial laterality). However, it is unclear whether these parameters distinctively map onto different brain networks obtained from intrinsic functional connectivity, which organizes slowly fluctuating ongoing brain activity. In our study, 31 demographically homogeneous healthy young participants performed whole- and partial-report tasks and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Report accuracy was modeled using TVA to estimate, individually, the four TVA parameters. Networks encompassing cortical areas relevant for visual attention were derived from independent component analysis of rs-fMRI data: visual, executive control, right and left frontoparietal, and ventral and dorsal attention networks. Two TVA parameters were mapped on particular functional networks. First, participants with higher (vs. lower) visual processing speed showed lower functional connectivity within the ventral attention network. Second, participants with more (vs. less) efficient top-down control showed higher functional connectivity within the dorsal attention network and lower functional connectivity within the visual network. Additionally, higher performance was associated with higher functional connectivity between networks: specifically, between the ventral attention and right frontoparietal networks for visual processing speed, and between the visual and executive control networks for top-down control. The higher inter-network functional connectivity was related to lower intra-network connectivity. These results demonstrate that separable visual attention parameters that are assumed to constitute relatively stable traits correspond distinctly to the functional connectivity both within and between particular functional networks. This implies that individual differences in basic attention functions are represented by differences in the coherence of slowly fluctuating brain activity.

Cognitive and Executive Functions in Colombian School Children with Conduct Disorder: Sex Differences.

PubMed

Urazán-Torres, Gina Rocío; Puche-Cabrera, Mario José; Caballero-Forero, Mangelli; Rey-Anacona, César Armando

2013-12-01

Most of the studies that have examined cognitive and executive functions in conduct disorders (CD) have been conducted on institutionalized male adolescents. In this research the cognitive and executive functions of non-institutionalized Colombian school children with CD were compared with normal school children, all between 6 and 12 years-old. We used a case-control design. The cases were participants who met the diagnostic criteria for CD (n=39) and controls who did not meet these criteria (n=39), according to reports of a professional of the participants' institution, and a structured interview for childhood psychiatric syndromes. The two groups were selected from educational institutions, and there were no differences in age, school grade, or socioeconomic level. The IQ was reviewed, as well as the presence of other mental disorders, serious physical illnesses, and more serious neurological signs. The cognitive and executive functions were evaluated using a child neuropsychological test battery. We found that participants with CD had significantly lower scores in construction abilities, perceptual abilities (tactile, visual and auditory), differed in verbal memory, differed in visual memory, language (repetition, expression and understanding), meta-linguistic abilities, spatial abilities, visual and auditory attention, conceptual abilities, verbal and graphic fluency, and cognitive flexibility. The same differences were found between males, except in repetition, whereas girls showed fewer differences, thus the cognitive and executive performance was poorer in males with CD than in females, especially in verbal and linguistic-related functions. Children with CD could show generalized cognitive and executive deficits. These deficits seem to be more frequent in boys than in girls with CD. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

The Dancing Brain: Structural and Functional Signatures of Expert Dance Training.

PubMed

Burzynska, Agnieszka Z; Finc, Karolina; Taylor, Brittany K; Knecht, Anya M; Kramer, Arthur F

2017-01-01

Dance - as a ritual, therapy, and leisure activity - has been known for thousands of years. Today, dance is increasingly used as therapy for cognitive and neurological disorders such as dementia and Parkinson's disease. Surprisingly, the effects of dance training on the healthy young brain are not well understood despite the necessity of such information for planning successful clinical interventions. Therefore, this study examined actively performing, expert-level trained college students as a model of long-term exposure to dance training. To study the long-term effects of dance training on the human brain, we compared 20 young expert female Dancers with normal body mass index with 20 age- and education-matched Non-Dancers with respect to brain structure and function. We used diffusion tensor, morphometric, resting state and task-related functional MRI, a broad cognitive assessment, and objective measures of selected dance skill (Dance Central video game and a balance task). Dancers showed superior performance in the Dance Central video game and balance task, but showed no differences in cognitive abilities. We found little evidence for training-related differences in brain volume in Dancers. Dancers had lower anisotropy in the corticospinal tract. They also activated the action observation network (AON) to greater extent than Non-Dancers when viewing dance sequences. Dancers showed altered functional connectivity of the AON, and of the general motor learning network. These functional connectivity differences were related to dance skill and balance and training-induced structural characteristics. Our findings have the potential to inform future study designs aiming to monitor dance training-induced plasticity in clinical populations.

The Dancing Brain: Structural and Functional Signatures of Expert Dance Training

PubMed Central

Burzynska, Agnieszka Z.; Finc, Karolina; Taylor, Brittany K.; Knecht, Anya M.; Kramer, Arthur F.

2017-01-01

Dance – as a ritual, therapy, and leisure activity – has been known for thousands of years. Today, dance is increasingly used as therapy for cognitive and neurological disorders such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Surprisingly, the effects of dance training on the healthy young brain are not well understood despite the necessity of such information for planning successful clinical interventions. Therefore, this study examined actively performing, expert-level trained college students as a model of long-term exposure to dance training. To study the long-term effects of dance training on the human brain, we compared 20 young expert female Dancers with normal body mass index with 20 age- and education-matched Non-Dancers with respect to brain structure and function. We used diffusion tensor, morphometric, resting state and task-related functional MRI, a broad cognitive assessment, and objective measures of selected dance skill (Dance Central video game and a balance task). Dancers showed superior performance in the Dance Central video game and balance task, but showed no differences in cognitive abilities. We found little evidence for training-related differences in brain volume in Dancers. Dancers had lower anisotropy in the corticospinal tract. They also activated the action observation network (AON) to greater extent than Non-Dancers when viewing dance sequences. Dancers showed altered functional connectivity of the AON, and of the general motor learning network. These functional connectivity differences were related to dance skill and balance and training-induced structural characteristics. Our findings have the potential to inform future study designs aiming to monitor dance training-induced plasticity in clinical populations. PMID:29230170

Electrophysiologic and functional evaluations of regenerated facial nerve defects with a tube containing dental pulp cells in rats.

PubMed

Sasaki, Ryo; Matsumine, Hajime; Watanabe, Yorikatsu; Takeuchi, Yuichi; Yamato, Masayuki; Okano, Teruo; Miyata, Mariko; Ando, Tomohiro

2014-11-01

Dental pulp tissue contains Schwann and neural progenitor cells. Tissue-engineered nerve conduits with dental pulp cells promote facial nerve regeneration in rats. However, no nerve functional or electrophysiologic evaluations were performed. This study investigated the compound muscle action potential recordings and facial functional analysis of dental pulp cell regenerated nerve in rats. A silicone tube containing rat dental pulp cells in type I collagen gel was transplanted into a 7-mm gap of the buccal branch of the facial nerve in Lewis rats; the same defect was created in the marginal mandibular branch, which was ligatured. Compound muscle action potential recordings of vibrissal muscles and facial functional analysis with facial palsy score of the nerve were performed. Tubulation with dental pulp cells showed significantly lower facial palsy scores than the autograft group between 3 and 10 weeks postoperatively. However, the dental pulp cell facial palsy scores showed no significant difference from those of autograft after 11 weeks. Amplitude and duration of compound muscle action potentials in the dental pulp cell group showed no significant difference from those of the intact and autograft groups, and there was no significant difference in the latency of compound muscle action potentials between the groups at 13 weeks postoperatively. However, the latency in the dental pulp cell group was prolonged more than that of the intact group. Tubulation with dental pulp cells could recover facial nerve defects functionally and electrophysiologically, and the recovery became comparable to that of nerve autografting in rats.

Stability of individual loudness functions obtained by magnitude estimation and production

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hellman, R. P.

1981-01-01

A correlational analysis of individual magnitude estimation and production exponents at the same frequency is performed, as is an analysis of individual exponents produced in different sessions by the same procedure across frequency (250, 1000, and 3000 Hz). Taken as a whole, the results show that individual exponent differences do not decrease by counterbalancing magnitude estimation with magnitude production and that individual exponent differences remain stable over time despite changes in stimulus frequency. Further results show that although individual magnitude estimation and production exponents do not necessarily obey the .6 power law, it is possible to predict the slope of an equal-sensation function averaged for a group of listeners from individual magnitude estimation and production data. On the assumption that individual listeners with sensorineural hearing also produce stable and reliable magnitude functions, it is also shown that the slope of the loudness-recruitment function measured by magnitude estimation and production can be predicted for individuals with bilateral losses of long duration. Results obtained in normal and pathological ears thus suggest that individual listeners can produce loudness judgements that reveal, although indirectly, the input-output characteristic of the auditory system.

PARANOID INDIVIDUALS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA SHOW GREATER SOCIAL COGNITIVE BIAS AND WORSE SOCIAL FUNCTIONING THAN NON-PARANOID INDIVIDUALS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA.

PubMed

Pinkham, Amy E; Harvey, Philip D; Penn, David L

2016-03-01

Paranoia is a common symptom of schizophrenia that may be related to how individuals process and respond to social stimuli. Previous investigations support a link between increased paranoia and greater social cognitive impairments, but these studies have been limited to single domains of social cognition, and no studies have examined how paranoia may influence functional outcome. Data from 147 individuals with schizophrenia were used to examine whether actively paranoid and non-paranoid individuals with schizophrenia differ in social cognition and functional outcomes. On measures assessing social cognitive bias, paranoid individuals endorsed more hostile and blaming attributions and identified more faces as untrustworthy; however, paranoid and non-paranoid individuals did not differ on emotion recognition and theory of mind tasks assessing social cognitive ability. Likewise, paranoid individuals showed greater impairments in real-world interpersonal relationships and social acceptability as compared to non-paranoid patients, but these differences did not extend to performance based tasks assessing functional capacity and social competence. These findings isolate specific social cognitive disparities between paranoid and non-paranoid subgroups and suggest that paranoia may exacerbate the social dysfunction that is commonly experienced by individuals with schizophrenia.

Contrasting patterns of leaf trait variation among and within species during tropical dry forest succession in Costa Rica.

PubMed

Derroire, Géraldine; Powers, Jennifer S; Hulshof, Catherine M; Cárdenas Varela, Luis E; Healey, John R

2018-01-10

A coordinated response to environmental drivers amongst individual functional traits is central to the plant strategy concept. However, whether the trait co-ordination observed at the global scale occurs at other ecological scales (especially within species) remains an open question. Here, for sapling communities of two tropical dry forest types in Costa Rica, we show large differences amongst traits in the relative contribution of species turnover and intraspecific variation to their directional changes in response to environmental changes along a successional gradient. We studied the response of functional traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum and drought tolerance using intensive sampling to analyse inter- and intra-specific responses to environmental changes and ontogeny. Although the overall functional composition of the sapling communities changed during succession more through species turnover than through intraspecific trait variation, their relative contributions differed greatly amongst traits. For instance, community mean specific leaf area changed mostly due to intraspecific variation. Traits of the leaf economics spectrum showed decoupled responses to environmental drivers and ontogeny. These findings emphasise how divergent ecological mechanisms combine to cause great differences in changes of individual functional traits over environmental gradients and ecological scales.

On-line node fault injection training algorithm for MLP networks: objective function and convergence analysis.

PubMed

Sum, John Pui-Fai; Leung, Chi-Sing; Ho, Kevin I-J

2012-02-01

Improving fault tolerance of a neural network has been studied for more than two decades. Various training algorithms have been proposed in sequel. The on-line node fault injection-based algorithm is one of these algorithms, in which hidden nodes randomly output zeros during training. While the idea is simple, theoretical analyses on this algorithm are far from complete. This paper presents its objective function and the convergence proof. We consider three cases for multilayer perceptrons (MLPs). They are: (1) MLPs with single linear output node; (2) MLPs with multiple linear output nodes; and (3) MLPs with single sigmoid output node. For the convergence proof, we show that the algorithm converges with probability one. For the objective function, we show that the corresponding objective functions of cases (1) and (2) are of the same form. They both consist of a mean square errors term, a regularizer term, and a weight decay term. For case (3), the objective function is slight different from that of cases (1) and (2). With the objective functions derived, we can compare the similarities and differences among various algorithms and various cases.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION PROFILES IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT

PubMed Central

Marton, Klara; Campanelli, Luca; Scheuer, Jessica; Yoon, Jungmee; Eichorn, Naomi

2013-01-01

We present findings from a study that focused on specific executive functions (EF) in children with and without specific language impairment (SLI). We analyzed performance patterns and EF profiles (spatial working memory, inhibition control, and sustained attention) in school-age SLI children and two control groups: age-matched and language matched. Our main research goal was to identify those EFs that show a weakness in children with SLI. Our specific aims were to: (1) examine whether the EF problems in children with SLI are domain-general; (2) examine whether deficits in EF in children with SLI can be explained by the general slowness hypothesis or by an overall delay in development; (3) compare EF profiles to examine whether children with SLI show a distinct pattern of performance from their peers. Our findings showed different EF profiles for the groups. We observed differences in performance patterns related to age (e.g., reaction time in response inhibition) and differences related to language status (e.g., sensitivity to interference). The findings show interesting associations in EFs that play a crucial role in language processing. PMID:25302062

Wigner functions on non-standard symplectic vector spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, Nuno Costa; Prata, João Nuno

2018-01-01

We consider the Weyl quantization on a flat non-standard symplectic vector space. We focus mainly on the properties of the Wigner functions defined therein. In particular we show that the sets of Wigner functions on distinct symplectic spaces are different but have non-empty intersections. This extends previous results to arbitrary dimension and arbitrary (constant) symplectic structure. As a by-product we introduce and prove several concepts and results on non-standard symplectic spaces which generalize those on the standard symplectic space, namely, the symplectic spectrum, Williamson's theorem, and Narcowich-Wigner spectra. We also show how Wigner functions on non-standard symplectic spaces behave under the action of an arbitrary linear coordinate transformation.

Resting state brain network function in major depression - Depression symptomatology, antidepressant treatment effects, future research.

PubMed

Brakowski, Janis; Spinelli, Simona; Dörig, Nadja; Bosch, Oliver Gero; Manoliu, Andrei; Holtforth, Martin Grosse; Seifritz, Erich

2017-09-01

The alterations of functional connectivity brain networks in major depressive disorder (MDD) have been subject of a large number of studies. Using different methodologies and focusing on diverse aspects of the disease, research shows heterogeneous results lacking integration. Disrupted network connectivity has been found in core MDD networks like the default mode network (DMN), the central executive network (CEN), and the salience network, but also in cerebellar and thalamic circuitries. Here we review literature published on resting state brain network function in MDD focusing on methodology, and clinical characteristics including symptomatology and antidepressant treatment related findings. There are relatively few investigations concerning the qualitative aspects of symptomatology of MDD, whereas most studies associate quantitative aspects with distinct resting state functional connectivity alterations. Such depression severity associated alterations are found in the DMN, frontal, cerebellar and thalamic brain regions as well as the insula and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. Similarly, different therapeutical options in MDD and their effects on brain function showed patchy results. Herein, pharmaceutical treatments reveal functional connectivity alterations throughout multiple brain regions notably the DMN, fronto-limbic, and parieto-temporal regions. Psychotherapeutical interventions show significant functional connectivity alterations in fronto-limbic networks, whereas electroconvulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation result in alterations of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, the DMN, the CEN and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. While it appears clear that functional connectivity alterations are associated with the pathophysiology and treatment of MDD, future research should also generate a common strategy for data acquisition and analysis, as a least common denominator, to set the basis for comparability across studies and implementation of functional connectivity as a scientifically and clinically useful biomarker. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Executive functioning and processing speed in age-related differences in memory: contribution of a coding task.

PubMed

Baudouin, Alexia; Clarys, David; Vanneste, Sandrine; Isingrini, Michel

2009-12-01

The aim of the present study was to examine executive dysfunctioning and decreased processing speed as potential mediators of age-related differences in episodic memory. We compared the performances of young and elderly adults in a free-recall task. Participants were also given tests to measure executive functions and perceptual processing speed and a coding task (the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, DSST). More precisely, we tested the hypothesis that executive functions would mediate the age-related differences observed in the free-recall task better than perceptual speed. We also tested the assumption that a coding task, assumed to involve both executive processes and perceptual speed, would be the best mediator of age-related differences in memory. Findings first confirmed that the DSST combines executive processes and perceptual speed. Secondly, they showed that executive functions are a significant mediator of age-related differences in memory, and that DSST performance is the best predictor.

Preoperative physiotherapy and short-term functional outcomes of primary total knee arthroplasty.

PubMed

Mat Eil Ismail, Mohd Shukry; Sharifudin, Mohd Ariff; Shokri, Amran Ahmed; Ab Rahman, Shaifuzain

2016-03-01

Physiotherapy is an important part of rehabilitation following arthroplasty, but the impact of preoperative physiotherapy on functional outcomes is still being studied. This randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of preoperative physiotherapy on the short-term functional outcomes of primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). 50 patients with primary knee osteoarthritis who underwent unilateral primary TKA were randomised into two groups: the physiotherapy group (n = 24), whose patients performed physical exercises for six weeks immediately prior to surgery, and the nonphysiotherapy group (n = 26). All patients went through a similar physiotherapy regime in the postoperative rehabilitation period. Functional outcome assessment using the algofunctional Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) scale and range of motion (ROM) evaluation was performed preoperatively, and postoperatively at six weeks and three months. Both groups showed a significant difference in all algofunctional KOOS subscales (p < 0.001). The mean score difference at six weeks and three months was not significant in the sports and recreational activities subscale for both groups (p > 0.05). Significant differences were observed in the time-versus-treatment analysis between groups for the symptoms (p = 0.003) and activities of daily living (p = 0.025) subscales. No significant difference in ROM was found when comparing preoperative measurements and those at three months following surgery, as well as in time-versus-treatment analysis (p = 0.928). Six-week preoperative physiotherapy showed no significant impact on short-term functional outcomes (KOOS subscales) and ROM of the knee following primary TKA. Copyright: © Singapore Medical Association.

Different singularities in the functions of extended kinetic theory at the origin of the yield stress in granular flows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berzi, Diego; Vescovi, Dalila

2015-01-15

We use previous results from discrete element simulations of simple shear flows of rigid, identical spheres in the collisional regime to show that the volume fraction-dependence of the stresses is singular at the shear rigidity. Here, we identify the shear rigidity, which is a decreasing function of the interparticle friction, as the maximum volume fraction beyond which a random collisional assembly of grains cannot be sheared without developing force chains that span the entire domain. In the framework of extended kinetic theory, i.e., kinetic theory that accounts for the decreasing in the collisional dissipation due to the breaking of molecularmore » chaos at volume fractions larger than 0.49, we also show that the volume fraction-dependence of the correlation length (measure of the velocity correlation) is singular at random close packing, independent of the interparticle friction. The difference in the singularities ensures that the ratio of the shear stress to the pressure at shear rigidity is different from zero even in the case of frictionless spheres: we identify that with the yield stress ratio of granular materials, and we show that the theoretical predictions, once the different singularities are inserted into the functions of extended kinetic theory, are in excellent agreement with the results of numerical simulations.« less

Individual and institutional factors associated with functional disability in nursing home residents: An observational study with multilevel analysis.

PubMed

Serrano-Urrea, Ramón; Gómez-Rubio, Virgilio; Palacios-Ceña, Domingo; Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, César; García-Meseguer, María José

2017-01-01

High prevalence of functional limitations has been previously observed in nursing homes. Disability may depend not only on the characteristics of the residents but also on the facility characteristics. The aims of this study were: 1, to describe the prevalence of functional disability in older people living in Spanish nursing homes; and 2, to analyze the relationships between individual and nursing home characteristics and residents' functional disability. A cross-sectional study with data collected from 895 residents in 34 nursing homes in the province of Albacete (Spain) was conducted. Functional status was assessed by the Barthel Index. Taking into account both levels of data (individual and institutional characteristics) we resorted to a multilevel analysis in order to take different sources of variability in the data. The prevalence of functional disability of the total sample was 79.8%. The best fitting multilevel model showed that female gender, older age, negative self-perception of health, and living in private nursing homes were factors significantly associated with functional disability. After separating individual and institutional effects, the institutions showed significant differences. In line with previous findings, our study found high levels of functional dependence among institutionalized elders. Gender, age, self-perception of health, and institution ownership were associated with functional status. Disentangling individual and institutional effects by means of multilevel models can help evaluate the quality of the residences.

Colossal spin-orbit coupling in functionalized graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balakrishnan, Jayakumar; Koon, Gavin; Oezyilmaz, Barbaros

2013-03-01

Graphene's low intrinsic spin orbit (SO) interaction strongly limits the realization of several functional spintronics devices. It is therefore quite desirable to develop methods to tune this SO coupling strength. Among the different approaches, the functionalization of graphene seems to be more promising from an application perspective. Recent theoretical and experimental results on functionalized graphene have shown interesting magnetic properties. Here, we will show our preliminary spin-transport results on such functionally modified graphene and discuss the various possibilities it holds for future graphene-based spintronics applications.

[Particle Size Distribution and Pollutant Speciation Analyses of Stormwater Runoff in the Ancient Town of Suzhou].

PubMed

Li, Huai; Wu, Wei; Tian, Yong-jing; Huang, Tian-yin

2016-02-15

The particle size distribution (PSD) and its transformation processes in the stormwater runoffs in the ancient town of Suzhou were studied based on the particles size analyses, the water-quality monitoring data and the parameters of the rainfall-runoff models. The commercial districts, the modern residential area, the old residential area, the traffic area and the landscape tourist area were selected as the five functional example areas in the ancient town of Suzhou. The effects of antecedent dry period, the rainfall intensity and the amount of runoffs on the particle size distributions were studied, and the existing forms of the main pollutants in different functional areas and their possible relations were analyzed as well. The results showed that the particle size distribution, the migration processes and the output characteristics in the stormwater runoffs were greatly different in these five functional areas, which indicated different control measures for the pollution of the runoffs should be taken in the design process. The antecedent dry period, the rainfall intensity and the amount of runoffs showed significant correlations with the particle size distribution, showing these were the important factors. The output of the particles was greatly influenced by the flow scouring in the early period of the rainfall, and the correlations between the amount of runoffs and the particle migration ability presented significant difference in 30% (early period) and 70% (later period) of the runoff volume. The major existence form of the output pollutants was particle, and the correlation analyses of different diameter particles showed that the particles smaller than 150 microm were the dominant carrier of the pollutants via adsorption and accumulation processes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sim, Eunji; Kim, Min-Cheol; Burke, Kieron

We investigate dissociation of diatomic molecules using standard density functional theory (DFT) and density-corrected density functional theory (DC-DFT) compared with CCSD(T) results as reference. The results show the difference between the HOMO values of dissociated atomic species often can be used as an indicator whether DFT would predict the correct dissociation limit. DFT predicts incorrect dissociation limits and charge distribution in molecules or molecular ions when the fragments have large HOMO differences, while DC-DFT and CCSD(T) do not. The criteria for large HOMO difference is about 2 ∼ 4 eV.

Functional approach in estimation of cultural ecosystem services of recreational areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sautkin, I. S.; Rogova, T. V.

2018-01-01

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of cultural ecosystem services of recreational areas from the different forest plant functional groups in the suburbs of Kazan. The study explored two cultural ecosystem services supplied by forest plants by linking these services to different plant functional traits. Information on the functional traits of 76 plants occurring in the forest ecosystems of the investigated area was collected from reference books on the biological characteristics of plant species. Analysis of these species and traits with the Ward clustering method yielded four functional groups with different potentials for delivering ecosystem services. The results show that the contribution of species diversity to services can be characterized through the functional traits of plants. This proves that there is a stable relationship between biodiversity and the quality and quantity of ecosystem services. The proposed method can be extended to other types of services (regulating and supporting). The analysis can be used in the socio-economic assessment of natural ecosystems for recreation and other uses.

Traumatic brain injury and functional outcomes: does minority status matter?

PubMed

Arango-Lasprilla, Juan Carlos; Rosenthal, Mitchell; Deluca, John; Komaroff, Eugene; Sherer, Mark; Cifu, David; Hanks, Robin

2007-06-01

(1) to determine differences between minorities vs. non-minorities on demographic, injury and rehabilitation characteristics and functional outcomes at admission, discharge and 1-year post-injury and (2) to examine differences in functional outcome at 1-year post-injury among (African-Americans, Hispanics and Whites). Retrospective study. Longitudinal data were extracted from the TBI Model Systems database. 4929 individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI (3354 Whites vs. 1575 Minorities: 1207 African-Americans and 368 Hispanics) hospitalized between 1989-2004. Functional outcomes at 1-year post-injury (Disability Rating Scale, Functional Independence Measure, Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended and Community Integration Questionnaire). At discharge and 1-year post-injury, minorities had poorer functional outcomes compared with Caucasians on all measures. After controlling for sociodemographic, injury and functional characteristics at admission, Hispanics and African-Americans still showed worse functional outcomes at 1-year post-injury compared with Whites on the DRS, FIM and CIQ. There were no significant differences between African Americans and Hispanics. Minorities had significantly reduced long-term functional outcome after rehabilitation relative to Whites. It is imperative that rehabilitation professionals' consider factors related to poorer long-term functional outcome and work to improve the quality of life of minorities with TBI.

The maximal-density mass function for primordial black hole dark matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehmann, Benjamin V.; Profumo, Stefano; Yant, Jackson

2018-04-01

The advent of gravitational wave astronomy has rekindled interest in primordial black holes (PBH) as a dark matter candidate. As there are many different observational probes of the PBH density across different masses, constraints on PBH models are dependent on the functional form of the PBH mass function. This complicates general statements about the mass functions allowed by current data, and, in particular, about the maximum total density of PBH. Numerical studies suggest that some forms of extended mass functions face tighter constraints than monochromatic mass functions, but they do not preclude the existence of a functional form for which constraints are relaxed. We use analytical arguments to show that the mass function which maximizes the fraction of the matter density in PBH subject to all constraints is a finite linear combination of monochromatic mass functions. We explicitly compute the maximum fraction of dark matter in PBH for different combinations of current constraints, allowing for total freedom of the mass function. Our framework elucidates the dependence of the maximum PBH density on the form of observational constraints, and we discuss the implications of current and future constraints for the viability of the PBH dark matter paradigm.

Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality.

PubMed

Hautier, Yann; Isbell, Forest; Borer, Elizabeth T; Seabloom, Eric W; Harpole, W Stanley; Lind, Eric M; MacDougall, Andrew S; Stevens, Carly J; Adler, Peter B; Alberti, Juan; Bakker, Jonathan D; Brudvig, Lars A; Buckley, Yvonne M; Cadotte, Marc; Caldeira, Maria C; Chaneton, Enrique J; Chu, Chengjin; Daleo, Pedro; Dickman, Christopher R; Dwyer, John M; Eskelinen, Anu; Fay, Philip A; Firn, Jennifer; Hagenah, Nicole; Hillebrand, Helmut; Iribarne, Oscar; Kirkman, Kevin P; Knops, Johannes M H; La Pierre, Kimberly J; McCulley, Rebecca L; Morgan, John W; Pärtel, Meelis; Pascual, Jesus; Price, Jodi N; Prober, Suzanne M; Risch, Anita C; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schuetz, Martin; Standish, Rachel J; Virtanen, Risto; Wardle, Glenda M; Yahdjian, Laura; Hector, Andy

2018-01-01

Biodiversity is declining in many local communities while also becoming increasingly homogenized across space. Experiments show that local plant species loss reduces ecosystem functioning and services, but the role of spatial homogenization of community composition and the potential interaction between diversity at different scales in maintaining ecosystem functioning remains unclear, especially when many functions are considered (ecosystem multifunctionality). We present an analysis of eight ecosystem functions measured in 65 grasslands worldwide. We find that more diverse grasslands-those with both species-rich local communities (α-diversity) and large compositional differences among localities (β-diversity)-had higher levels of multifunctionality. Moreover, α- and β-diversity synergistically affected multifunctionality, with higher levels of diversity at one scale amplifying the contribution to ecological functions at the other scale. The identity of species influencing ecosystem functioning differed among functions and across local communities, explaining why more diverse grasslands maintained greater functionality when more functions and localities were considered. These results were robust to variation in environmental drivers. Our findings reveal that plant diversity, at both local and landscape scales, contributes to the maintenance of multiple ecosystem services provided by grasslands. Preserving ecosystem functioning therefore requires conservation of biodiversity both within and among ecological communities.

Hierarchical organization of brain functional networks during visual tasks.

PubMed

Zhuo, Zhao; Cai, Shi-Min; Fu, Zhong-Qian; Zhang, Jie

2011-09-01

The functional network of the brain is known to demonstrate modular structure over different hierarchical scales. In this paper, we systematically investigated the hierarchical modular organizations of the brain functional networks that are derived from the extent of phase synchronization among high-resolution EEG time series during a visual task. In particular, we compare the modular structure of the functional network from EEG channels with that of the anatomical parcellation of the brain cortex. Our results show that the modular architectures of brain functional networks correspond well to those from the anatomical structures over different levels of hierarchy. Most importantly, we find that the consistency between the modular structures of the functional network and the anatomical network becomes more pronounced in terms of vision, sensory, vision-temporal, motor cortices during the visual task, which implies that the strong modularity in these areas forms the functional basis for the visual task. The structure-function relationship further reveals that the phase synchronization of EEG time series in the same anatomical group is much stronger than that of EEG time series from different anatomical groups during the task and that the hierarchical organization of functional brain network may be a consequence of functional segmentation of the brain cortex.

The Different Functions of Speech in Defamation and Privacy Cases.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kebbel, Gary

1984-01-01

Reviews United States Supreme Court decisions since 1900 to show that free speech decisions often rest on the circumstances surrounding the speech. Indicates that freedom of speech wins out over privacy when social or political function but not when personal happiness is the issue.

Individual Differences in Neural Regions Functionally Related to Real and Imagined Stuttering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wymbs, Nicholas F.; Ingham, Roger J.; Ingham, Janis C.; Paolini, Katherine E.; Grafton, Scott T.

2013-01-01

Recent brain imaging investigations of developmental stuttering show considerable disagreement regarding which regions are related to stuttering. These divergent findings have been mainly derived from group studies. To investigate functional neurophysiology with improved precision, an individual-participant approach (N = 4) using event-related…

Foundationalism and Neuroscience; Silence and Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keestra, Machiel; Cowley, Stephen J.

2009-01-01

Neuroscience offers more than new empirical evidence about the details of cognitive functions such as language, perception and action. Since it also shows many functions to be highly distributed, interconnected and dependent on mechanisms at different levels of processing, it challenges concepts that are traditionally used to describe these…

Different clades and traits yield similar grassland functional responses

PubMed Central

Forrestel, Elisabeth J.; Donoghue, Michael J.; Edwards, Erika J.; Jetz, Walter; du Toit, Justin C. O.; Smith, Melinda D.

2017-01-01

Plant functional traits are viewed as key to predicting important ecosystem and community properties across resource gradients within and among biogeographic regions. Vegetation dynamics and ecosystem processes, such as aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), are increasingly being modeled as a function of the quantitative traits of species, which are used as proxies for photosynthetic rates and nutrient and water-use efficiency. These approaches rely on an assumption that a certain trait value consistently confers a specific function or response under given environmental conditions. Here, we provide a critical test of this idea and evaluate whether the functional traits that drive the well-known relationship between precipitation and ANPP differ between systems with distinct biogeographic histories and species assemblages. Specifically, we compared grasslands spanning a broad precipitation gradient (∼200–1,000 mm/y) in North America and South Africa that differ in the relative representation and abundance of grass phylogenetic lineages. We found no significant difference between the regions in the positive relationship between annual precipitation and ANPP, yet the trait values underlying this relationship differed dramatically. Our results challenge the trait-based approach to predicting ecosystem function by demonstrating that different combinations of functional traits can act to maximize ANPP in a given environmental setting. Further, we show the importance of incorporating biogeographic and phylogenetic history in predicting community and ecosystem properties using traits. PMID:28074042

Compensation through Functional Hyperconnectivity: A Longitudinal Connectome Assessment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

PubMed Central

Iraji, Armin; Chen, Hanbo; Wiseman, Natalie; Welch, Robert D.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Haacke, E. Mark; Liu, Tianming; Kou, Zhifeng

2016-01-01

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a major public health concern. Functional MRI has reported alterations in several brain networks following mTBI. However, the connectome-scale brain network changes are still unknown. In this study, sixteen mTBI patients were prospectively recruited from an emergency department and followed up at 4–6 weeks after injury. Twenty-four healthy controls were also scanned twice with the same time interval. Three hundred fifty-eight brain landmarks that preserve structural and functional correspondence of brain networks across individuals were used to investigate longitudinal brain connectivity. Network-based statistic (NBS) analysis did not find significant difference in the group-by-time interaction and time effects. However, 258 functional pairs show group differences in which mTBI patients have higher functional connectivity. Meta-analysis showed that “Action” and “Cognition” are the most affected functional domains. Categorization of connectomic signatures using multiview group-wise cluster analysis identified two patterns of functional hyperconnectivity among mTBI patients: (I) between the posterior cingulate cortex and the association areas of the brain and (II) between the occipital and the frontal lobes of the brain. Our results demonstrate that brain concussion renders connectome-scale brain network connectivity changes, and the brain tends to be hyperactivated to compensate the pathophysiological disturbances. PMID:26819765

Compensation through Functional Hyperconnectivity: A Longitudinal Connectome Assessment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Iraji, Armin; Chen, Hanbo; Wiseman, Natalie; Welch, Robert D; O'Neil, Brian J; Haacke, E Mark; Liu, Tianming; Kou, Zhifeng

2016-01-01

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a major public health concern. Functional MRI has reported alterations in several brain networks following mTBI. However, the connectome-scale brain network changes are still unknown. In this study, sixteen mTBI patients were prospectively recruited from an emergency department and followed up at 4-6 weeks after injury. Twenty-four healthy controls were also scanned twice with the same time interval. Three hundred fifty-eight brain landmarks that preserve structural and functional correspondence of brain networks across individuals were used to investigate longitudinal brain connectivity. Network-based statistic (NBS) analysis did not find significant difference in the group-by-time interaction and time effects. However, 258 functional pairs show group differences in which mTBI patients have higher functional connectivity. Meta-analysis showed that "Action" and "Cognition" are the most affected functional domains. Categorization of connectomic signatures using multiview group-wise cluster analysis identified two patterns of functional hyperconnectivity among mTBI patients: (I) between the posterior cingulate cortex and the association areas of the brain and (II) between the occipital and the frontal lobes of the brain. Our results demonstrate that brain concussion renders connectome-scale brain network connectivity changes, and the brain tends to be hyperactivated to compensate the pathophysiological disturbances.

Far-infrared /FIR/ optical black bidirectional reflectance distribution function /BRDF/

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, S. M.

1981-01-01

A nonspecular reflectometer and its operation at far-infrared wavelengths are described. Large differences in nonspecular reflectance were found to exist between different optically black coatings. Normal incidence bidirectional reflectance distribution function /BRDF) measurements at wavelengths between 12 and 316 microns of three black coatings show that their mean BRDFs increase with wavelength. The specularity of two of these coatings also showed a strong wavelength dependence, while the specularity of one coating seemed independent of wavelength. The BRDF of one coating depended on the angle of incidence at 12 and 38 microns, but not at 316 microns. Beyond 200 microns, it was found necessary to correct the measurements for the beam spread of the instrument.

Aging effects on functional auditory and visual processing using fMRI with variable sensory loading.

PubMed

Cliff, Michael; Joyce, Dan W; Lamar, Melissa; Dannhauser, Thomas; Tracy, Derek K; Shergill, Sukhwinder S

2013-05-01

Traditionally, studies investigating the functional implications of age-related structural brain alterations have focused on higher cognitive processes; by increasing stimulus load, these studies assess behavioral and neurophysiological performance. In order to understand age-related changes in these higher cognitive processes, it is crucial to examine changes in visual and auditory processes that are the gateways to higher cognitive functions. This study provides evidence for age-related functional decline in visual and auditory processing, and regional alterations in functional brain processing, using non-invasive neuroimaging. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), younger (n=11; mean age=31) and older (n=10; mean age=68) adults were imaged while observing flashing checkerboard images (passive visual stimuli) and hearing word lists (passive auditory stimuli) across varying stimuli presentation rates. Younger adults showed greater overall levels of temporal and occipital cortical activation than older adults for both auditory and visual stimuli. The relative change in activity as a function of stimulus presentation rate showed differences between young and older participants. In visual cortex, the older group showed a decrease in fMRI blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal magnitude as stimulus frequency increased, whereas the younger group showed a linear increase. In auditory cortex, the younger group showed a relative increase as a function of word presentation rate, while older participants showed a relatively stable magnitude of fMRI BOLD response across all rates. When analyzing participants across all ages, only the auditory cortical activation showed a continuous, monotonically decreasing BOLD signal magnitude as a function of age. Our preliminary findings show an age-related decline in demand-related, passive early sensory processing. As stimulus demand increases, visual and auditory cortex do not show increases in activity in older compared to younger people. This may negatively impact on the fidelity of information available to higher cognitive processing. Such evidence may inform future studies focused on cognitive decline in aging. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the Uncertainties and Multi-parameter Trade-offs in Joint Inversion of Receiver Functions and Surface Wave Velocity and Ellipticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, C.; Lekic, V.

2016-12-01

When constraining the structure of the Earth's continental lithosphere, multiple seismic observables are often combined due to their complementary sensitivities.The transdimensional Bayesian (TB) approach in seismic inversion allows model parameter uncertainties and trade-offs to be quantified with few assumptions. TB sampling yields an adaptive parameterization that enables simultaneous inversion for different model parameters (Vp, Vs, density, radial anisotropy), without the need for strong prior information or regularization. We use a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (rjMcMC) algorithm to incorporate different seismic observables - surface wave dispersion (SWD), Rayleigh wave ellipticity (ZH ratio), and receiver functions - into the inversion for the profiles of shear velocity (Vs), compressional velocity (Vp), density (ρ), and radial anisotropy (ξ) beneath a seismic station. By analyzing all three data types individually and together, we show that TB sampling can eliminate the need for a fixed parameterization based on prior information, and reduce trade-offs in model estimates. We then explore the effect of different types of misfit functions for receiver function inversion, which is a highly non-unique problem. We compare the synthetic inversion results using the L2 norm, cross-correlation type and integral type misfit function by their convergence rates and retrieved seismic structures. In inversions in which only one type of model parameter (Vs for the case of SWD) is inverted, assumed scaling relationships are often applied to account for sensitivity to other model parameters (e.g. Vp, ρ, ξ). Here we show that under a TB framework, we can eliminate scaling assumptions, while simultaneously constraining multiple model parameters to varying degrees. Furthermore, we compare the performance of TB inversion when different types of model parameters either share the same or use independent parameterizations. We show that different parameterizations can lead to differences in retrieved model parameters, consistent with limited data constraints. We then quantitatively examine the model parameter trade-offs and find that trade-offs between Vp and radial anisotropy might limit our ability to constrain shallow-layer radial anisotropy using current seismic observables.

Chemistry by Way of Density Functional Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.; Ricca, Alessandra; Partridge, Harry; Langohff, Stephen R.; Arnold, James O. (Technical Monitor)

1996-01-01

In this work we demonstrate that density functional theory (DFT) methods make an important contribution to understanding chemical systems and are an important additional method for the computational chemist. We report calibration calculations obtained with different functionals for the 55 G2 molecules to justify our selection of the B3LYP functional. We show that accurate geometries and vibrational frequencies obtained at the B3LYP level can be combined with traditional methods to simplify the calculation of accurate heats of formation. We illustrate the application of the B3LYP approach to a variety of chemical problems from the vibrational frequencies of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to transition metal systems. We show that the B3LYP method typically performs better than the MP2 method at a significantly lower computational cost. Thus the B3LYP method allows us to extend our studies to much larger systems while maintaining a high degree of accuracy. We show that for transition metal systems, the B3LYP bond energies are typically of sufficient accuracy that they can be used to explain experimental trends and even differentiate between different experimental values. We show that for boron clusters the B3LYP energetics are not as good as for many of the other systems presented, but even in this case the B3LYP approach is able to help understand the experimental trends.

137Cs distribution among annual rings of different tree species contaminated after the Chernobyl accident.

PubMed

Soukhova, N V; Fesenko, S V; Klein, D; Spiridonov, S I; Sanzharova, N I; Badot, P M

2003-01-01

The distributions of 137Cs among annual rings of Pinus sylvestris and Betula pendula at four experimental sites located in the most contaminated areas in the Russian territory after the Chernobyl accident in 1986 were studied. Trees of different ages were sampled from four forest sites with different tree compositions and soil properties. The data analysis shows that 137Cs is very mobile in wood and the 1986 rings do not show the highest contamination. The difference between pine and birch in the pattern of radial 137Cs distribution can be satisfactorily explained by the difference in radial ray composition. 137Cs radial distribution in the wood can be described as the sum of two exponential functions for both species. The function parameters are height, age and species dependent. The distribution of 137Cs in birch wood reveals much more pronounced dependence on site characteristics and/or the age of trees than pines. The data obtained can be used to assess 137Cs content in wood.

Functional diversity of the superfamily of K⁺ transporters to meet various requirements.

PubMed

Diskowski, Marina; Mikusevic, Vedrana; Stock, Charlott; Hänelt, Inga

2015-09-01

The superfamily of K+ transporters unites proteins from plants, fungi, bacteria, and archaea that translocate K+ and/or Na+ across membranes. These proteins are key components in osmotic regulation, pH homeostasis, and resistance to high salinity and dryness. The members of the superfamily are closely related to K+ channels such as KcsA but also show several striking differences that are attributed to their altered functions. This review highlights these functional differences, focusing on the bacterial superfamily members KtrB, TrkH, and KdpA. The functional variations within the family and comparison to MPM-type K+ channels are discussed in light of the recently solved structures of the Ktr and Trk systems.

Phenotypic plasticity to light and nutrient availability alters functional trait ranking across eight perennial grassland species.

PubMed

Siebenkäs, Alrun; Schumacher, Jens; Roscher, Christiane

2015-03-27

Functional traits are often used as species-specific mean trait values in comparative plant ecology or trait-based predictions of ecosystem processes, assuming that interspecific differences are greater than intraspecific trait variation and that trait-based ranking of species is consistent across environments. Although this assumption is increasingly challenged, there is a lack of knowledge regarding to what degree the extent of intraspecific trait variation in response to varying environmental conditions depends on the considered traits and the characteristics of the studied species to evaluate the consequences for trait-based species ranking. We studied functional traits of eight perennial grassland species classified into different functional groups (forbs vs. grasses) and varying in their inherent growth stature (tall vs. small) in a common garden experiment with different environments crossing three levels of nutrient availability and three levels of light availability over 4 months of treatment applications. Grasses and forbs differed in almost all above- and belowground traits, while trait differences related to growth stature were generally small. The traits showing the strongest responses to resource availability were similarly for grasses and forbs those associated with allocation and resource uptake. The strength of trait variation in response to varying resource availability differed among functional groups (grasses > forbs) and species of varying growth stature (small-statured > tall-statured species) in many aboveground traits, but only to a lower extent in belowground traits. These differential responses altered trait-based species ranking in many aboveground traits, such as specific leaf area, tissue nitrogen and carbon concentrations and above-belowground allocation (leaf area ratio and root : shoot ratio) at varying resource supply, while trait-based species ranking was more consistent in belowground traits. Our study shows that species grouping according to functional traits is valid, but trait-based species ranking depends on environmental conditions, thus limiting the applicability of species-specific mean trait values in ecological studies. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Dual RNA-seq reveals no plastic transcriptional response of the coccidian parasite Eimeria falciformis to host immune defenses.

PubMed

Ehret, Totta; Spork, Simone; Dieterich, Christoph; Lucius, Richard; Heitlinger, Emanuel

2017-09-05

Parasites can either respond to differences in immune defenses that exist between individual hosts plastically or, alternatively, follow a genetically canalized ("hard wired") program of infection. Assuming that large-scale functional plasticity would be discernible in the parasite transcriptome we have performed a dual RNA-seq study of the lifecycle of Eimeria falciformis using infected mice with different immune status as models for coccidian infections. We compared parasite and host transcriptomes (dual transcriptome) between naïve and challenge infected mice, as well as between immune competent and immune deficient ones. Mice with different immune competence show transcriptional differences as well as differences in parasite reproduction (oocyst shedding). Broad gene categories represented by differently abundant host genes indicate enrichments for immune reaction and tissue repair functions. More specifically, TGF-beta, EGF, TNF and IL-1 and IL-6 are examples of functional annotations represented differently depending on host immune status. Much in contrast, parasite transcriptomes were neither different between Coccidia isolated from immune competent and immune deficient mice, nor between those harvested from naïve and challenge infected mice. Instead, parasite transcriptomes have distinct profiles early and late in infection, characterized largely by biosynthesis or motility associated functional gene groups, respectively. Extracellular sporozoite and oocyst stages showed distinct transcriptional profiles and sporozoite transcriptomes were found enriched for species specific genes and likely pathogenicity factors. We propose that the niche and host-specific parasite E. falciformis uses a genetically canalized program of infection. This program is likely fixed in an evolutionary process rather than employing phenotypic plasticity to interact with its host. This in turn might limit the potential of the parasite to adapt to new host species or niches, forcing it to coevolve with its host.

Effects of the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Stress Management on Executive Function Components.

PubMed

Santos-Ruiz, Ana; Robles-Ortega, Humbelina; Pérez-García, Miguel; Peralta-Ramírez, María Isabel

2017-02-13

This study aims to determine whether it is possible to modify executive function in stressed individuals by means of cognitive-behavioral therapy for stress management. Thirty-one people with high levels of perceived stress were recruited into the study (treatment group = 18; wait-list group = 13). The treatment group received 14 weeks of stress management program. Psychological and executive function variables were evaluated in both groups pre and post-intervention. The treatment group showed improved psychological variables of perceived stress (t = 5.492; p = .001), vulnerability to stress (t = 4.061; p = .001) and superstitious thinking (t = 2.961; p = .009). Likewise, the results showed statistically significant differences in personality variables related to executive function, positive urgency (t = 3.585; p = .002) and sensitivity to reward (t = -2.201; p = .042), which improved after the therapy. These variables showed a moderate to high effect size (oscillates between 1.30 for perceived stress and .566 for sensitivity to reward). The cognitive-behavioral therapy for stress management may be an appropriate strategy for improving personality construct components related to executive function, however effects of the therapy are not showed on performance on the tests of executive function applied, as presented studies previous.

Comparing rainfall patterns between regions in Peninsular Malaysia via a functional data analysis technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suhaila, Jamaludin; Jemain, Abdul Aziz; Hamdan, Muhammad Fauzee; Wan Zin, Wan Zawiah

2011-12-01

SummaryNormally, rainfall data is collected on a daily, monthly or annual basis in the form of discrete observations. The aim of this study is to convert these rainfall values into a smooth curve or function which could be used to represent the continuous rainfall process at each region via a technique known as functional data analysis. Since rainfall data shows a periodic pattern in each region, the Fourier basis is introduced to capture these variations. Eleven basis functions with five harmonics are used to describe the unimodal rainfall pattern for stations in the East while five basis functions which represent two harmonics are needed to describe the rainfall pattern in the West. Based on the fitted smooth curve, the wet and dry periods as well as the maximum and minimum rainfall values could be determined. Different rainfall patterns are observed among the studied regions based on the smooth curve. Using the functional analysis of variance, the test results indicated that there exist significant differences in the functional means between each region. The largest differences in the functional means are found between the East and Northwest regions and these differences may probably be due to the effect of topography and, geographical location and are mostly influenced by the monsoons. Therefore, the same inputs or approaches might not be useful in modeling the hydrological process for different regions.

Neural Correlates of Emotional Personality: A Structural and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

PubMed Central

Koelsch, Stefan; Skouras, Stavros; Jentschke, Sebastian

2013-01-01

Studies addressing brain correlates of emotional personality have remained sparse, despite the involvement of emotional personality in health and well-being. This study investigates structural and functional brain correlates of psychological and physiological measures related to emotional personality. Psychological measures included neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness scores, as assessed using a standard personality questionnaire. As a physiological measure we used a cardiac amplitude signature, the so-called E κ value (computed from the electrocardiogram) which has previously been related to tender emotionality. Questionnaire scores and E κ values were related to both functional (eigenvector centrality mapping, ECM) and structural (voxel-based morphometry, VBM) neuroimaging data. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained from 22 individuals (12 females) while listening to music (joy, fear, or neutral music). ECM results showed that agreeableness scores correlated with centrality values in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens). Individuals with higher E κ values (indexing higher tender emotionality) showed higher centrality values in the subiculum of the right hippocampal formation. Structural MRI data from an independent sample of 59 individuals (34 females) showed that neuroticism scores correlated with volume of the left amygdaloid complex. In addition, individuals with higher E κ showed larger gray matter volume in the same portion of the subiculum in which individuals with higher E κ showed higher centrality values. Our results highlight a role of the amygdala in neuroticism. Moreover, they indicate that a cardiac signature related to emotionality (E κ) correlates with both function (increased network centrality) and structure (grey matter volume) of the subiculum of the hippocampal formation, suggesting a role of the hippocampal formation for emotional personality. Results are the first to show personality-related differences using eigenvector centrality mapping, and the first to show structural brain differences for a physiological measure associated with personality. PMID:24312166

Effects of age and sex on developmental neural networks of visual-spatial attention allocation.

PubMed

Rubia, Katya; Hyde, Zoe; Halari, Rozmin; Giampietro, Vincent; Smith, Anna

2010-06-01

Compared to our understanding of the functional maturation of brain networks underlying complex cognitive abilities, hardly anything is known of the neurofunctional development of simpler cognitive abilities such as visuo-spatial attention allocation. Furthermore, nothing is known on the effect of gender on the functional development of attention allocation. This study employed event related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate effects of age, sex, and sex by age interactions on the brain activation of 63 males and females, between 13 to 38years, during a visual-spatial oddball task. Behaviourally, with increasing age, speed was traded for accuracy, indicative of a less impulsive performance style in older subjects. Increasing age was associated with progressively increased activation in typical areas of selective attention of lateral fronto-striatal and temporo-parietal brain regions. Sex difference analysis showed enhanced activation in right-hemispheric inferior frontal and superior temporal regions in females, and in left-hemispheric inferior temporo-parietal regions in males. Importantly, the age by sex interaction findings showed that these sex-dimorphic patterns of brain activation may be the result of underlying sex differences in the functional maturation of these brain regions, as females had sex-specific progressive age-correlations in the same right inferior fronto-striato-temporal areas, while male-specific age-correlations were in left medial temporal and parietal areas. The findings demonstrate progressive functional maturation of fronto-striato-parieto-temporal networks of the relatively simple function of attention allocation between early adolescence and mid-adulthood. They furthermore show that sex-dimorphic patterns of enhanced reliance on right inferior frontal, striatal and superior temporal regions in females and of left temporo-parietal regions in males during attention allocation may be the result of underlying sex differences in the functional maturation of these brain regions. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Numerical simulation of terahertz transmission of bilayer metallic meshes with different thickness of substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Gaohui; Zhao, Guozhong; Zhang, Shengbo

2012-12-01

The terahertz transmission characteristics of bilayer metallic meshes are studied based on the finite difference time domain method. The bilayer well-shaped grid, the array of complementary square metallic pill and the cross wire-hole array were investigated. The results show that the bilayer well-shaped grid achieves a high-pass of filter function, while the bilayer array of complementary square metallic pill achieves a low-pass of filter function, the bilayer cross wire-hole array achieves a band-pass of filter function. Between two metallic microstructures, the medium need to be deposited. Obviously, medium thicknesses have an influence on the terahertz transmission characteristics of metallic microstructures. Simulation results show that with increasing the thicknesses of the medium the cut-off frequency of high-pass filter and low-pass filter move to low frequency. But the bilayer cross wire-hole array possesses two transmission peaks which display competition effect.

Biological Monitoring of Air Pollutants and Its Influence on Human Beings

PubMed Central

Cen, Shihong

2015-01-01

Monitoring air pollutants via plants is an economic, convenient and credible method compared with the traditional ways. Plants show different damage symptoms to different air pollutants, which can be used to determine the species of air pollutants. Besides, pollutants mass concentration scope can be estimated by the damage extent of plants and the span of polluted time. Based on the domestic and foreign research, this paper discusses the principles, mechanism, advantages and disadvantages of plant-monitoring, and exemplifies plenty of such plants and the minimum mass concentration and pollution time of the plants showing damage symptoms. Finally, this paper introduced the human health effects of air pollutants on immune function of the body, such as decrease of the body's immune function, decline of lung function, respiratory and circulatory system changes, inducing and promoting human allergic diseases, respiratory diseases and other diseases. PMID:26628931

The relationship between moral judgment and cooperation in children with high-functioning autism

PubMed Central

Li, Jing; Zhu, Liqi; Gummerum, Michaela

2014-01-01

This study investigated moral judgment in children with high-functioning autism and their cooperation in prisoner's dilemma game with partners of different moralities. Thirty-eight 6- to 12-year-old high-functioning autistic (HFA) children and 31 typically developing (TD) children were recruited. Children were asked to judge story protagonists' morality. After making this moral judgment correctly, they were asked to play with the morally nice and the morally naughty child in a repeated prisoner's dilemma game. Results showed that both HFA and TD children made correct moral judgments, and that HFA children might even have more rigid criteria for what constitutes morally naughty acts. HFA children's cooperation did not differ depending on the morality of the interaction partner, while TD children showed higher cooperation when interacting with the morally nice than the morally naughty child did. Thus, partner's morality did influence TD children's but not HFA children's subsequent cooperation. PMID:24603775

Autistic and schizotypal traits and global functioning in bipolar I disorder.

PubMed

Abu-Akel, Ahmad; Clark, Jennifer; Perry, Amy; Wood, Stephen J; Forty, Liz; Craddock, Nick; Jones, Ian; Gordon-Smith, Katherine; Jones, Lisa

2017-01-01

To determine the expression of autistic and positive schizotypal traits in a large sample of adults with bipolar I disorder (BD I), and the effect of co-occurring autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning in BD I. Autistic and positive schizotypal traits were self-assessed in 797 individuals with BD-I recruited by the Bipolar Disorder Research Network. Differences in global functioning (rated using the Global Assessment Scale) during lifetime worst depressive and manic episodes (GASD and GASM respectively) were calculated in groups with high/low autistic and positive schizotypal traits. Regression analyses assessed the interactive effect of autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning. 47.2% (CI=43.7-50.7%) showed clinically significant levels of autistic traits, and 23.22% (95% CI=20.29-26.14) showed clinically significant levels of positive schizotypal traits. In the worst episode of mania, the high autistic, high positive schizotypal group had better global functioning compared to the other groups. Individual differences analyses showed that high levels of both traits were associated with better global functioning in both mood states. Autistic and schizotypal traits were assessed using self-rated questionnaires. Expression of autistic and schizotypal traits in adults with BD I is prevalent, and may be important to predict illness aetiology, prognosis, and diagnostic practices in this population. Future work should focus on replicating these findings in independent samples, and on the biological and/or psychosocial mechanisms underlying better global functioning in those who have high levels of both autistic and positive schizotypal traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural and functional rich club organization of the brain in children and adults.

PubMed

Grayson, David S; Ray, Siddharth; Carpenter, Samuel; Iyer, Swathi; Dias, Taciana G Costa; Stevens, Corinne; Nigg, Joel T; Fair, Damien A

2014-01-01

Recent studies using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have proposed that the brain's white matter is organized as a rich club, whereby the most highly connected regions of the brain are also highly connected to each other. Here we use both functional and diffusion-weighted MRI in the human brain to investigate whether the rich club phenomena is present with functional connectivity, and how this organization relates to the structural phenomena. We also examine whether rich club regions serve to integrate information between distinct brain systems, and conclude with a brief investigation of the developmental trajectory of rich-club phenomena. In agreement with prior work, both adults and children showed robust structural rich club organization, comprising regions of the superior medial frontal/dACC, medial parietal/PCC, insula, and inferior temporal cortex. We also show that these regions were highly integrated across the brain's major networks. Functional brain networks were found to have rich club phenomena in a similar spatial layout, but a high level of segregation between systems. While no significant differences between adults and children were found structurally, adults showed significantly greater functional rich club organization. This difference appeared to be driven by a specific set of connections between superior parietal, insula, and supramarginal cortex. In sum, this work highlights the existence of both a structural and functional rich club in adult and child populations with some functional changes over development. It also offers a potential target in examining atypical network organization in common developmental brain disorders, such as ADHD and Autism.

Comparison of bandwidths in the inferior colliculus and the auditory nerve. II: Measurement using a temporally manipulated stimulus.

PubMed

Mc Laughlin, Myles; Chabwine, Joelle Nsimire; van der Heijden, Marcel; Joris, Philip X

2008-10-01

To localize low-frequency sounds, humans rely on an interaural comparison of the temporally encoded sound waveform after peripheral filtering. This process can be compared with cross-correlation. For a broadband stimulus, after filtering, the correlation function has a damped oscillatory shape where the periodicity reflects the filter's center frequency and the damping reflects the bandwidth (BW). The physiological equivalent of the correlation function is the noise delay (ND) function, which is obtained from binaural cells by measuring response rate to broadband noise with varying interaural time delays (ITDs). For monaural neurons, delay functions are obtained by counting coincidences for varying delays across spike trains obtained to the same stimulus. Previously, we showed that BWs in monaural and binaural neurons were similar. However, earlier work showed that the damping of delay functions differs significantly between these two populations. Here, we address this paradox by looking at the role of sensitivity to changes in interaural correlation. We measured delay and correlation functions in the cat inferior colliculus (IC) and auditory nerve (AN). We find that, at a population level, AN and IC neurons with similar characteristic frequencies (CF) and BWs can have different responses to changes in correlation. Notably, binaural neurons often show compression, which is not found in the AN and which makes the shape of delay functions more invariant with CF at the level of the IC than at the AN. We conclude that binaural sensitivity is more dependent on correlation sensitivity than has hitherto been appreciated and that the mechanisms underlying correlation sensitivity should be addressed in future studies.

Functional Resilience against Climate-Driven Extinctions – Comparing the Functional Diversity of European and North American Tree Floras

PubMed Central

Liebergesell, Mario; Stahl, Ulrike; Freiberg, Martin; Welk, Erik; Kattge, Jens; Cornelissen, J. Hans C.; Peñuelas, Josep

2016-01-01

Future global change scenarios predict a dramatic loss of biodiversity for many regions in the world, potentially reducing the resistance and resilience of ecosystem functions. Once before, during Plio-Pleistocene glaciations, harsher climatic conditions in Europe as compared to North America led to a more depauperate tree flora. Here we hypothesize that this climate driven species loss has also reduced functional diversity in Europe as compared to North America. We used variation in 26 traits for 154 North American and 66 European tree species and grid-based co-occurrences derived from distribution maps to compare functional diversity patterns of the two continents. First, we identified similar regions with respect to contemporary climate in the temperate zone of North America and Europe. Second, we compared the functional diversity of both continents and for the climatically similar sub-regions using the functional dispersion-index (FDis) and the functional richness index (FRic). Third, we accounted in these comparisons for grid-scale differences in species richness, and, fourth, investigated the associated trait spaces using dimensionality reduction. For gymnosperms we find similar functional diversity on both continents, whereas for angiosperms functional diversity is significantly greater in Europe than in North America. These results are consistent across different scales, for climatically similar regions and considering species richness patterns. We decomposed these differences in trait space occupation into differences in functional diversity vs. differences in functional identity. We show that climate-driven species loss on a continental scale might be decoupled from or at least not linearly related to changes in functional diversity. This might be important when analyzing the effects of climate-driven biodiversity change on ecosystem functioning. PMID:26848836

Social Cognition in Adolescent Girls with Fragile X Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turkstra, Lyn S.; Abbeduto, Leonard; Meulenbroek, Peter

2014-01-01

This study aimed to characterize social cognition, executive functions (EFs), and everyday social functioning in adolescent girls with fragile X syndrome, and identify relationships among these variables. Participants were 20 girls with FXS and 20 age-matched typically developing peers. Results showed significant between-groups differences in…

Visuo-Spatial Processing and Executive Functions in Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marton, Klara

2008-01-01

Background: Individual differences in complex working memory tasks reflect simultaneous processing, executive functions, and attention control. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) show a deficit in verbal working memory tasks that involve simultaneous processing of information. Aims: The purpose of the study was to examine executive…

Connection of Scattering Principles: A Visual and Mathematical Tour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broggini, Filippo; Snieder, Roel

2012-01-01

Inverse scattering, Green's function reconstruction, focusing, imaging and the optical theorem are subjects usually studied as separate problems in different research areas. We show a physical connection between the principles because the equations that rule these "scattering principles" have a similar functional form. We first lead the reader…

Age differences in risky choice: a meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Mata, Rui; Josef, Anika K.; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Hertwig, Ralph

2012-01-01

Does risk taking change as a function of age? We conducted a systematic literature search and found 29 comparisons between younger and older adults on behavioral tasks thought to measure risk taking (N =4,093). The reports relied on various tasks differing in several respects, such as the amount of learning required or the choice framing (gains vs. losses). The results suggest that age-related differences vary considerably as a function of task characteristics, in particular the learning requirements of the task. In decisions from experience, age-related differences in risk taking were a function of decreased learning performance: older adults were more risk seeking compared to younger adults when learning led to risk-avoidant behavior, but were more risk averse when learning led to risk-seeking behavior. In decisions from description, younger adults and older adults showed similar risk-taking behavior for the majority of the tasks, and there were no clear age-related differences as a function of gain/loss framing. We discuss limitations and strengths of past research and provide suggestions for future work on age-related differences in risk taking. PMID:22023565

A novel sampling method for multiple multiscale targets from scattering amplitudes at a fixed frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiaodong

2017-08-01

A sampling method by using scattering amplitude is proposed for shape and location reconstruction in inverse acoustic scattering problems. Only matrix multiplication is involved in the computation, thus the novel sampling method is very easy and simple to implement. With the help of the factorization of the far field operator, we establish an inf-criterion for characterization of underlying scatterers. This result is then used to give a lower bound of the proposed indicator functional for sampling points inside the scatterers. While for the sampling points outside the scatterers, we show that the indicator functional decays like the bessel functions as the sampling point goes away from the boundary of the scatterers. We also show that the proposed indicator functional continuously depends on the scattering amplitude, this further implies that the novel sampling method is extremely stable with respect to errors in the data. Different to the classical sampling method such as the linear sampling method or the factorization method, from the numerical point of view, the novel indicator takes its maximum near the boundary of the underlying target and decays like the bessel functions as the sampling points go away from the boundary. The numerical simulations also show that the proposed sampling method can deal with multiple multiscale case, even the different components are close to each other.

Left inferior-parietal lobe activity in perspective tasks: identity statements

PubMed Central

Arora, Aditi; Weiss, Benjamin; Schurz, Matthias; Aichhorn, Markus; Wieshofer, Rebecca C.; Perner, Josef

2015-01-01

We investigate the theory that the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) is closely associated with tracking potential differences of perspective. Developmental studies find that perspective tasks are mastered at around 4 years of age. Our first study, meta-analyses of brain imaging studies shows that perspective tasks specifically activate a region in the left IPL and precuneus. These tasks include processing of false belief, visual perspective, and episodic memory. We test the location specificity theory in our second study with an unusual and novel kind of perspective task: identity statements. According to Frege's classical logical analysis, identity statements require appreciation of modes of presentation (perspectives). We show that identity statements, e.g., “the tour guide is also the driver” activate the left IPL in contrast to a control statements, “the tour guide has an apprentice.” This activation overlaps with the activations found in the meta-analysis. This finding is confirmed in a third study with different types of statements and different comparisons. All studies support the theory that the left IPL has as one of its overarching functions the tracking of perspective differences. We discuss how this function relates to the bottom-up attention function proposed for the bilateral IPL. PMID:26175677

Linguistic constraints on children's overt marking of BE by dialect and age.

PubMed

Roy, Joseph; Oetting, Janna B; Moland, Christy Wynn

2013-06-01

Overt marking of BE in nonmainstream adult dialects of English is influenced by a number of linguistic constraints, including the structure's person, number, tense, contractibility, and grammatical function. In the current study, the authors examined the effects of these constraints on overt marking of BE in children as a function of their nonmainstream English dialect and age. The data were language samples from 62 children, ages 4-6 years; 24 children spoke African American English (AAE), and 38 spoke Southern White English (SWE). Analyses included analysis of variance and logistic regression. Rates of overt marking varied by the children's dialect but not their age. Although the person, number, tense, and grammatical function of BE influenced the children's rates of marking, the nature and magnitude of the influence differed by the children's dialect. For AAE-speaking children, contractibility also influenced their marking of BE. Consistent with the adult literature, the current study showed that AAE- and SWE-speaking children marked BE in ways that differed from each other and from what has been documented for child speakers of Mainstream American English. These findings show stability in the use of BE in AAE and SWE that spans different generations and different dialect communities.

Frequency modulation detection in cochlear implant subjects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hongbin; Zeng, Fan-Gang

2004-10-01

Frequency modulation (FM) detection was investigated in acoustic and electric hearing to characterize cochlear-implant subjects' ability to detect dynamic frequency changes and to assess the relative contributions of temporal and spectral cues to frequency processing. Difference limens were measured for frequency upward sweeps, downward sweeps, and sinusoidal FM as a function of standard frequency and modulation rate. In electric hearing, factors including electrode position and stimulation level were also studied. Electric hearing data showed that the difference limen increased monotonically as a function of standard frequency regardless of the modulation type, the modulation rate, the electrode position, and the stimulation level. In contrast, acoustic hearing data showed that the difference limen was nearly a constant as a function of standard frequency. This difference was interpreted to mean that temporal cues are used only at low standard frequencies and at low modulation rates. At higher standard frequencies and modulation rates, the reliance on the place cue is increased, accounting for the better performance in acoustic hearing than for electric hearing with single-electrode stimulation. The present data suggest a speech processing strategy that encodes slow frequency changes using lower stimulation rates than those typically employed by contemporary cochlear-implant speech processors. .

[Effects of alien species Robinia pseudoacacia on plant community functional structure in hilly-gully region of Loess Plateau, China.

PubMed

Zhu, Duo Ju; Wen, Zhong Ming; Zhang, Jing; Tao, Yu; Zeng, Hong Wen; Tang, Yang

2018-02-01

To investigate the effects of the introduction of Robinia pseudoacacia on the functional structure of plant communities, we selected paired-plots of R. pseudoacacia communities and native plant communities across different vegetation zones, i.e., steppe zone, forest-steppe zone, forest zone in hilly-gully region of Loess Plateau, China. We measured several functional characteristics and then compared the functional structures of R. pseudoacacia and native plant communities in different vegetation zones. The results showed that the variation of the functional traits across different vegetation zones were consistent in R. pseudoacacia community and native plant community, including leaf carbon concentration, leaf nitrogen concentration, leaf phosphorus concentration, specific leaf area, and leaf tissue density. The leaf carbon concentration, leaf nitrogen concentration, and specific leaf area of the R. pseudoacacia community were significantly higher than those of the native plant community. The trend of change that the functional diversity indices, i.e., FR ic , FE ve , FD iv , FD is , Rao of the R. pseudoacacia community and the native plant community with vegetation zones were different. The introduction of R. pseudoacacia enhanced the plant community functional diversity in the forest zone but reduced community functional diversity in the steppe zone.

Influence of gender, age and motives underlying food choice on perceived healthiness and willingness to try functional foods.

PubMed

Ares, Gastón; Gámbaro, Adriana

2007-07-01

The aims of the present study were to study the effect of different carriers and enrichments on the perceived healthiness and willingness to try functional foods; and to evaluate the effect of age, gender and motives underlying food choice. Participants had to evaluate different functional food concepts and had to answer a food choice questionnaire. Results showed that carrier products had the largest effect on consumers' perception of healthiness and willingness to try of the evaluated functional foods concepts. The highest positive relative utilities were achieved when the enrichment was a functional ingredient inherent in the product. Furthermore, gender, age and motives underlying food choice affected the preference patterns for the evaluated functional foods concepts, but it depended on the carrier and enrichment considered, suggesting that functional foods might not be accepted by all the consumers and that they could be tailored for certain groups.

Functional equivalency inferred from "authoritative sources" in networks of homologous proteins.

PubMed

Natarajan, Shreedhar; Jakobsson, Eric

2009-06-12

A one-on-one mapping of protein functionality across different species is a critical component of comparative analysis. This paper presents a heuristic algorithm for discovering the Most Likely Functional Counterparts (MoLFunCs) of a protein, based on simple concepts from network theory. A key feature of our algorithm is utilization of the user's knowledge to assign high confidence to selected functional identification. We show use of the algorithm to retrieve functional equivalents for 7 membrane proteins, from an exploration of almost 40 genomes form multiple online resources. We verify the functional equivalency of our dataset through a series of tests that include sequence, structure and function comparisons. Comparison is made to the OMA methodology, which also identifies one-on-one mapping between proteins from different species. Based on that comparison, we believe that incorporation of user's knowledge as a key aspect of the technique adds value to purely statistical formal methods.

Functional Equivalency Inferred from “Authoritative Sources” in Networks of Homologous Proteins

PubMed Central

Natarajan, Shreedhar; Jakobsson, Eric

2009-01-01

A one-on-one mapping of protein functionality across different species is a critical component of comparative analysis. This paper presents a heuristic algorithm for discovering the Most Likely Functional Counterparts (MoLFunCs) of a protein, based on simple concepts from network theory. A key feature of our algorithm is utilization of the user's knowledge to assign high confidence to selected functional identification. We show use of the algorithm to retrieve functional equivalents for 7 membrane proteins, from an exploration of almost 40 genomes form multiple online resources. We verify the functional equivalency of our dataset through a series of tests that include sequence, structure and function comparisons. Comparison is made to the OMA methodology, which also identifies one-on-one mapping between proteins from different species. Based on that comparison, we believe that incorporation of user's knowledge as a key aspect of the technique adds value to purely statistical formal methods. PMID:19521530

The association of gender, age, and intelligence with neuropsychological functioning in young typically developing children: The Generation R study.

PubMed

Mous, Sabine E; Schoemaker, Nikita K; Blanken, Laura M E; Thijssen, Sandra; van der Ende, Jan; Polderman, Tinca J C; Jaddoe, Vincent W V; Hofman, Albert; Verhulst, Frank C; Tiemeier, Henning; White, Tonya

2017-01-01

Although early childhood is a period of rapid neurocognitive development, few studies have assessed neuropsychological functioning in various cognitive domains in young typically developing children. Also, results regarding its association with gender and intelligence are mixed. In 853 typically developing children aged 6 to 10 years old, the association of gender, age, and intelligence with neuropsychological functioning in the domains of attention, executive functioning, language, memory, sensorimotor functioning, and visuospatial processing was explored. Clear positive associations with age were observed. In addition, gender differences were found and showed that girls generally outperformed boys, with the exception of visuospatial tasks. Furthermore, IQ was positively associated with neuropsychological functioning, which was strongest in visuospatial tasks. Performance in different neuropsychological domains was associated with age, gender, and intelligence in young typically developing children, and these factors should be taken into account when assessing neuropsychological functioning in clinical or research settings.

Estimating Shape and Micro-Motion Parameter of Rotationally Symmetric Space Objects from the Infrared Signature

PubMed Central

Wu, Yabei; Lu, Huanzhang; Zhao, Fei; Zhang, Zhiyong

2016-01-01

Shape serves as an important additional feature for space target classification, which is complementary to those made available. Since different shapes lead to different projection functions, the projection property can be regarded as one kind of shape feature. In this work, the problem of estimating the projection function from the infrared signature of the object is addressed. We show that the projection function of any rotationally symmetric object can be approximately represented as a linear combination of some base functions. Based on this fact, the signal model of the emissivity-area product sequence is constructed, which is a particular mathematical function of the linear coefficients and micro-motion parameters. Then, the least square estimator is proposed to estimate the projection function and micro-motion parameters jointly. Experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:27763500

Task modulated brain connectivity of the amygdala: a meta-analysis of psychophysiological interactions.

PubMed

Di, Xin; Huang, Jia; Biswal, Bharat B

2017-01-01

Understanding functional connectivity of the amygdala with other brain regions, especially task modulated connectivity, is a critical step toward understanding the role of the amygdala in emotional processes and the interactions between emotion and cognition. The present study performed coordinate-based meta-analysis on studies of task modulated connectivity of the amygdala which used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. We first analyzed 49 PPI studies on different types of tasks using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis. Widespread cortical and subcortical regions showed consistent task modulated connectivity with the amygdala, including the medial frontal cortex, bilateral insula, anterior cingulate, fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, thalamus, and basal ganglia. These regions were in general overlapped with those showed coactivations with the amygdala, suggesting that these regions and amygdala are not only activated together, but also show different levels of interactions during tasks. Further analyses with subsets of PPI studies revealed task specific functional connectivities with the amygdala that were modulated by fear processing, face processing, and emotion regulation. These results suggest a dynamic modulation of connectivity upon task demands, and provide new insights on the functions of the amygdala in different affective and cognitive processes. The meta-analytic approach on PPI studies may offer a framework toward systematical examinations of task modulated connectivity.

Fabry disease and enzyme replacement therapy in classic patients with same mutation: different formulations--different outcome?

PubMed

Politei, J; Schenone, A B; Cabrera, G; Heguilen, R; Szlago, M

2016-01-01

We describe the results of the multidisciplinary evaluation in patients with Fabry disease and the same genetic mutation and their outcomes using different approved enzyme replacement therapy (ERT). We measured baseline data and serial results of neuropathic pain assessment and renal, cardiac and cerebrovascular functioning. Pain scale showed improvement in all male cases treated with agalsidasa beta. A mild improvement was detected in agalsidasa alfa-treated patients after 1 year with posterior increase. During the agalsidase beta shortage, two male patients were switched to agalsidasa alfa, after 1 year both cases presented an increase in scale values. Renal evolution showed a tendency toward a decrease in proteinuria in patients using agalsidase beta and worsening with agalsidase alfa. We found improvement in two females using agalsidase beta and no changes in the other cases regarding cardiac functioning. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed increase of white matter lesions in four patients. Improvement and stabilization in neuropathic pain, renal and cardiac functioning and brain MRI were found mainly in patients treated with agalsidase beta. Following the reported recommendations on reintroduction of agalsidase beta after the enzyme shortage, we decided to switch all patients to agalsidase beta. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An fMRI study of working memory in first-degree unaffected relatives of schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Meda, Shashwath A; Bhattarai, Manish; Morris, Nicholas A; Astur, Robert S; Calhoun, Vince D; Mathalon, Daniel H; Kiehl, Kent A; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2008-09-01

Identifying intermediate phenotypes of genetically complex psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia is important. First-degree relatives of persons with schizophrenia have increased genetic risk for the disorder and tend to show deficits on working memory (WM) tasks. An open question is the relationship between such behavioral endophenotypes and the corresponding brain activation patterns revealed during functional imaging. We measured task performance during a Sternberg WM task and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess whether 23 non-affected first-degree relatives showed altered performance and functional activation compared to 43 matched healthy controls. We predicted that a significant proportion of unaffected first-degree relatives would show either aberrant task performance and/or abnormal related fMRI blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) patterns. While task performance in the relatives was not different than that of controls they were significantly slower in responding to probes., Schizophrenia relatives displayed reduced activation, most markedly in bilateral dorsolateral/ventrolateral (DLPFC/VLPFC) prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex when encoding stimuli and in bilateral DLPFC and parietal areas during response selection. Additionally, fMRI differences in both conditions were modulated by load, with a parametric increase in between-group differences with load in several key regions during encoding and an opposite effect during response selection.

Functional annotation of the vlinc class of non-coding RNAs using systems biology approach

PubMed Central

Laurent, Georges St.; Vyatkin, Yuri; Antonets, Denis; Ri, Maxim; Qi, Yao; Saik, Olga; Shtokalo, Dmitry; de Hoon, Michiel J.L.; Kawaji, Hideya; Itoh, Masayoshi; Lassmann, Timo; Arner, Erik; Forrest, Alistair R.R.; Nicolas, Estelle; McCaffrey, Timothy A.; Carninci, Piero; Hayashizaki, Yoshihide; Wahlestedt, Claes; Kapranov, Philipp

2016-01-01

Functionality of the non-coding transcripts encoded by the human genome is the coveted goal of the modern genomics research. While commonly relied on the classical methods of forward genetics, integration of different genomics datasets in a global Systems Biology fashion presents a more productive avenue of achieving this very complex aim. Here we report application of a Systems Biology-based approach to dissect functionality of a newly identified vast class of very long intergenic non-coding (vlinc) RNAs. Using highly quantitative FANTOM5 CAGE dataset, we show that these RNAs could be grouped into 1542 novel human genes based on analysis of insulators that we show here indeed function as genomic barrier elements. We show that vlincRNAs genes likely function in cis to activate nearby genes. This effect while most pronounced in closely spaced vlincRNA–gene pairs can be detected over relatively large genomic distances. Furthermore, we identified 101 vlincRNA genes likely involved in early embryogenesis based on patterns of their expression and regulation. We also found another 109 such genes potentially involved in cellular functions also happening at early stages of development such as proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Overall, we show that Systems Biology-based methods have great promise for functional annotation of non-coding RNAs. PMID:27001520

Effects of mirror therapy combined with motor tasks on upper extremity function and activities daily living of stroke patients.

PubMed

Kim, Kyunghoon; Lee, Sukmin; Kim, Donghoon; Lee, Kyoungbo; Kim, Youlim

2016-01-01

[Purpose] The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mirror therapy combined with exercise tasks on the function of the upper limbs and activities of daily living. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-five stroke patients who were receiving physical therapy at K Hospital in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, were classified into a mirror therapy group (n=12) and a conventional therapy group (n=13). The therapies were applied for 30 minutes per day, five times per week, for a total of four weeks. Upper limb function was measured with the Action Research Arm test, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and the Box and Block test, and activities of daily living were measured with the Functional Independence Measure. A paired test was performed to compare the intragroup differences between before training and after four weeks of therapy, and an independent t-test was performed to compare the differences between the two groups before and after four weeks of therapy. [Results] In the intragroup comparison, both groups showed significant differences between measurements taken before and after four weeks of therapy. In the intergroup comparison, the mirror therapy group showed significant improvements compared with the conventional therapy group, both in upper limb function and activities of daily living. [Conclusion] The findings of this study demonstrated that mirror therapy is more effective than conventional therapy for the training of stroke patients to improve their upper limb function and activities of daily living.

Evaluation of measurement equivalence of the Family Satisfaction with the End-of-Life Care in an ethnically diverse cohort: Tests of differential item functioning

PubMed Central

Teresi, Jeanne A; Ocepek-Welikson, Katja; Ramirez, Mildred; Kleinman, Marjorie; Ornstein, Katherine; Siu, Albert

2016-01-01

Background The Family Satisfaction with End-of-Life Care is an internationally used measure of satisfaction with cancer care. However, the Family Satisfaction with End-of-Life Care has not been studied for equivalence of item endorsement across different socio-demographic groups using differential item functioning. Aims The aims of this secondary data analysis were (1) to examine potential differential item functioning in the family satisfaction item set with respect to type of caregiver, race, and patient age, gender, and education and (2) to provide parameters and documentation of differential item functioning for an item bank. Design A mixed qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted. A priori hypotheses regarding potential group differences in item response were established. Item response theory and Wald tests were used for the analyses of differential item functioning, accompanied by magnitude and impact measures. Results Very little significant differential item functioning was observed for patient's age and gender. For race, 13 items showed differential item functioning after multiple comparison adjustment, 10 with non-uniform differential item functioning. No items evidenced differential item functioning of high magnitude, and the impact was negligible. For education, 5 items evidenced uniform differential item functioning after adjustment, none of high magnitude. Differential item functioning impact was trivial. One item evidenced differential item functioning for the caregiver relationship variable. Conclusion Differential item functioning was observed primarily for race and education. No differential item functioning of high magnitude was observed for any item, and the overall impact of differential item functioning was negligible. One item, satisfaction with “the patient's pain relief,” might be singled out for further study, given that this item was both hypothesized and observed to show differential item functioning for race and education. PMID:25160692

Tapping natural variation at functional level reveals allele specific molecular characteristics of potato invertase Pain-1.

PubMed

Draffehn, Astrid M; Durek, Pawel; Nunes-Nesi, Adriano; Stich, Benjamin; Fernie, Alisdair R; Gebhardt, Christiane

2012-12-01

Biochemical, molecular and genetic studies emphasize the role of the potato vacuolar invertase Pain-1 in the accumulation of reducing sugars in potato tubers upon cold storage, and thereby its influence on the quality of potato chips and French fries. Previous studies showed that natural Pain-1 cDNA alleles were associated with better chip quality and higher tuber starch content. In this study, we focused on the functional characterization of these alleles. A genotype-dependent transient increase of total Pain-1 transcript levels in cold-stored tubers of six different genotypes as well as allele-specific expression patterns were detected. 3D modelling revealed putative structural differences between allelic Pain-1 proteins at the molecule's surface and at the substrate binding site. Furthermore, the yeast SUC2 mutant was complemented with Pain-1 cDNA alleles and enzymatic parameters of the heterologous expressed proteins were measured at 30 and 4 °C. Significant differences between the alleles were detected. The observed functional differences between Pain-1 alleles did not permit final conclusions on the mechanism of their association with tuber quality traits. Our results show that natural allelic variation at the functional level is present in potato, and that the heterozygous genetic background influences the manifestation of this variation. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Individual differences in schedule-induced polydipsia: neuroanatomical dopamine divergences.

PubMed

Pellón, Ricardo; Ruíz, Ana; Moreno, Margarita; Claro, Francisco; Ambrosio, Emilio; Flores, Pilar

2011-02-02

Autoradiography analysis of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors and c-Fos activity were performed in brain of rats classified as low drinkers (LD) and high drinkers (HD) according to schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) performance. Previous studies have shown that groups selected according to their rate of drinking in SIP differ in behavioral response to dopaminergic drugs. This study reports differences between LD and HD rats in dopamine D1 and D2 receptor binding through different mesocorticolimbic brain areas. LD and HD rats showed opposite patterns of binding in dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra. Whereas LD rats showed higher binding than HD rats for D1 receptors, HD rats showed higher binding than LD rats for D2 receptors (except in substantia nigra that were roughly similar). These neuroanatomical differences in dopamine receptor binding were also associated with an elevated c-Fos count in the medial prefrontal cortex of HD rats. In tandem with previous evidence, our results suggest a different dopaminergic function between LD and HD, and points to SIP as a behavioral model for distinguishing populations possibly vulnerable to dopaminergic function disorders. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multiple metrics of diversity have different effects on temperate forest functioning over succession.

PubMed

Yuan, Zuoqiang; Wang, Shaopeng; Gazol, Antonio; Mellard, Jarad; Lin, Fei; Ye, Ji; Hao, Zhanqing; Wang, Xugao; Loreau, Michel

2016-12-01

Biodiversity can be measured by taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity. How ecosystem functioning depends on these measures of diversity can vary from site to site and depends on successional stage. Here, we measured taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity, and examined their relationship with biomass in two successional stages of the broad-leaved Korean pine forest in northeastern China. Functional diversity was calculated from six plant traits, and aboveground biomass (AGB) and coarse woody productivity (CWP) were estimated using data from three forest censuses (10 years) in two large fully mapped forest plots (25 and 5 ha). 11 of the 12 regressions between biomass variables (AGB and CWP) and indices of diversity showed significant positive relationships, especially those with phylogenetic diversity. The mean tree diversity-biomass regressions increased from 0.11 in secondary forest to 0.31 in old-growth forest, implying a stronger biodiversity effect in more mature forest. Multi-model selection results showed that models including species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and single functional traits explained more variation in forest biomass than other candidate models. The models with a single functional trait, i.e., leaf area in secondary forest and wood density in mature forest, provided better explanations for forest biomass than models that combined all six functional traits. This finding may reflect different strategies in growth and resource acquisition in secondary and old-growth forests.

Distinct Mechanisms Produce Functionally Complementary Actions of Neuropeptides that are Structurally Related but Derived from Different Precursors

PubMed Central

Vilim, F.S.; Sasaki, K.; Rybak, J.; Alexeeva, V.; Cropper, E.; Jing, J.; Orekhova, I.V.; Brezina, V.; Price, D.; Romanova, E.V.; Rubakhin, S.S.; Hatcher, N.; Sweedler, J.V.; Weiss, K.R.

2010-01-01

Many bioactive neuropeptides containing RFamide at their C-terminus have been described in both invertebrates and vertebrates. To obtain insight into the functional logic of RFamide signaling, we investigate it here in the feeding system of Aplysia. We focus on the expression, localization, and actions of two families of RFamide peptides, the FRFamides and FMRFamide, in the central neuronal circuitry and the peripheral musculature that generate the feeding movements. We describe the cloning of the FRFamide precursor protein and show that the FRFamides and FMRFamide are derived from different precursors. We map the expression of the FRFamide and FMRFamide precursors in the feeding circuitry using in-situ hybridization and immunostaining, and confirm proteolytic processing of the FRFamide precursor by mass spectrometry. We show that the two precursors are expressed in different populations of sensory neurons in the feeding system. In a representative feeding muscle, we demonstrate the presence of both FRFamides and FMRFamide and their release, probably from the processes of the sensory neurons in the muscle. Both centrally and in the periphery, the FRFamides and FMRFamide act in distinct ways, apparently through distinct mechanisms, that nevertheless, from an overall functional perspective, their actions are complementary. Together, the FRFamides and FMRFamide convert feeding motor programs from ingestive to egestive, and depress feeding muscle contractions. We conclude that these structurally related peptides, even though derived from different precursors, expressed in different neurons, and acting through different mechanisms, remain related to each other in the functional roles that they play in the system. PMID:20053896

Altered cognitive development in the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Barch, Deanna M.; Cohen, Rachel; Csernansky, John

2014-01-01

The goal of the current study was to further investigate the late neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia by examining cross-sectional, age-related changes in cognitive function among young adult: 1) siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 66); (2) healthy control participants (N = 77); and (3) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 77). All subjects participated in a battery of tasks in four domains: 1) IQ; 2) working memory; 3) episodic memory; and 4) executive function. We found significant group differences in the relationships between age and performance in working memory and episodic memory, with similar patterns for executive function and verbal IQ. The siblings of individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance in working memory, episodic memory, and executive function. In addition, healthy controls and/or their siblings showed age-related improvements in all four cognitive domains, while the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia only showed this for verbal IQ. PMID:25485180

Altered cognitive development in the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Barch, Deanna M; Cohen, Rachel; Csernansky, John

2014-03-01

The goal of the current study was to further investigate the late neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia by examining cross-sectional, age-related changes in cognitive function among young adult: 1) siblings of individuals with schizophrenia (N = 66); (2) healthy control participants (N = 77); and (3) the siblings of healthy controls (N = 77). All subjects participated in a battery of tasks in four domains: 1) IQ; 2) working memory; 3) episodic memory; and 4) executive function. We found significant group differences in the relationships between age and performance in working memory and episodic memory, with similar patterns for executive function and verbal IQ. The siblings of individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance in working memory, episodic memory, and executive function. In addition, healthy controls and/or their siblings showed age-related improvements in all four cognitive domains, while the siblings of individuals with schizophrenia only showed this for verbal IQ.

Dynamic functional connectivity analysis reveals transient states of dysconnectivity in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Damaraju, E; Allen, E A; Belger, A; Ford, J M; McEwen, S; Mathalon, D H; Mueller, B A; Pearlson, G D; Potkin, S G; Preda, A; Turner, J A; Vaidya, J G; van Erp, T G; Calhoun, V D

2014-01-01

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by functional dysconnectivity or abnormal integration between distant brain regions. Recent functional imaging studies have implicated large-scale thalamo-cortical connectivity as being disrupted in patients. However, observed connectivity differences in schizophrenia have been inconsistent between studies, with reports of hyperconnectivity and hypoconnectivity between the same brain regions. Using resting state eyes-closed functional imaging and independent component analysis on a multi-site data that included 151 schizophrenia patients and 163 age- and gender matched healthy controls, we decomposed the functional brain data into 100 components and identified 47 as functionally relevant intrinsic connectivity networks. We subsequently evaluated group differences in functional network connectivity, both in a static sense, computed as the pairwise Pearson correlations between the full network time courses (5.4 minutes in length), and a dynamic sense, computed using sliding windows (44 s in length) and k-means clustering to characterize five discrete functional connectivity states. Static connectivity analysis revealed that compared to healthy controls, patients show significantly stronger connectivity, i.e., hyperconnectivity, between the thalamus and sensory networks (auditory, motor and visual), as well as reduced connectivity (hypoconnectivity) between sensory networks from all modalities. Dynamic analysis suggests that (1), on average, schizophrenia patients spend much less time than healthy controls in states typified by strong, large-scale connectivity, and (2), that abnormal connectivity patterns are more pronounced during these connectivity states. In particular, states exhibiting cortical-subcortical antagonism (anti-correlations) and strong positive connectivity between sensory networks are those that show the group differences of thalamic hyperconnectivity and sensory hypoconnectivity. Group differences are weak or absent during other connectivity states. Dynamic analysis also revealed hypoconnectivity between the putamen and sensory networks during the same states of thalamic hyperconnectivity; notably, this finding cannot be observed in the static connectivity analysis. Finally, in post-hoc analyses we observed that the relationships between sub-cortical low frequency power and connectivity with sensory networks is altered in patients, suggesting different functional interactions between sub-cortical nuclei and sensorimotor cortex during specific connectivity states. While important differences between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls have been identified, one should interpret the results with caution given the history of medication in patients. Taken together, our results support and expand current knowledge regarding dysconnectivity in schizophrenia, and strongly advocate the use of dynamic analyses to better account for and understand functional connectivity differences.

Dynamic functional connectivity analysis reveals transient states of dysconnectivity in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Damaraju, E.; Allen, E.A.; Belger, A.; Ford, J.M.; McEwen, S.; Mathalon, D.H.; Mueller, B.A.; Pearlson, G.D.; Potkin, S.G.; Preda, A.; Turner, J.A.; Vaidya, J.G.; van Erp, T.G.; Calhoun, V.D.

2014-01-01

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by functional dysconnectivity or abnormal integration between distant brain regions. Recent functional imaging studies have implicated large-scale thalamo-cortical connectivity as being disrupted in patients. However, observed connectivity differences in schizophrenia have been inconsistent between studies, with reports of hyperconnectivity and hypoconnectivity between the same brain regions. Using resting state eyes-closed functional imaging and independent component analysis on a multi-site data that included 151 schizophrenia patients and 163 age- and gender matched healthy controls, we decomposed the functional brain data into 100 components and identified 47 as functionally relevant intrinsic connectivity networks. We subsequently evaluated group differences in functional network connectivity, both in a static sense, computed as the pairwise Pearson correlations between the full network time courses (5.4 minutes in length), and a dynamic sense, computed using sliding windows (44 s in length) and k-means clustering to characterize five discrete functional connectivity states. Static connectivity analysis revealed that compared to healthy controls, patients show significantly stronger connectivity, i.e., hyperconnectivity, between the thalamus and sensory networks (auditory, motor and visual), as well as reduced connectivity (hypoconnectivity) between sensory networks from all modalities. Dynamic analysis suggests that (1), on average, schizophrenia patients spend much less time than healthy controls in states typified by strong, large-scale connectivity, and (2), that abnormal connectivity patterns are more pronounced during these connectivity states. In particular, states exhibiting cortical–subcortical antagonism (anti-correlations) and strong positive connectivity between sensory networks are those that show the group differences of thalamic hyperconnectivity and sensory hypoconnectivity. Group differences are weak or absent during other connectivity states. Dynamic analysis also revealed hypoconnectivity between the putamen and sensory networks during the same states of thalamic hyperconnectivity; notably, this finding cannot be observed in the static connectivity analysis. Finally, in post-hoc analyses we observed that the relationships between sub-cortical low frequency power and connectivity with sensory networks is altered in patients, suggesting different functional interactions between sub-cortical nuclei and sensorimotor cortex during specific connectivity states. While important differences between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls have been identified, one should interpret the results with caution given the history of medication in patients. Taken together, our results support and expand current knowledge regarding dysconnectivity in schizophrenia, and strongly advocate the use of dynamic analyses to better account for and understand functional connectivity differences. PMID:25161896

Response of Korean pine’s functional traits to geography and climate

PubMed Central

Dong, Yichen

2017-01-01

This study analyzed the characteristics of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) functional trait responses to geographic and climatic factors in the eastern region of Northeast China (41°–48°N) and the linear relationships among Korean pine functional traits, to explore this species’ adaptability and ecological regulation strategies under different environmental conditions. Korean pine samples were collected from eight sites located at different latitudes, and the following factors were determined for each site: geographic factors—latitude, longitude, and altitude; temperature factors—mean annual temperature (MAT), growth season mean temperature (GST), and mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCM); and moisture factors—annual precipitation (AP), growth season precipitation (GSP), and potential evapotranspiration (PET). The Korean pine functional traits examined were specific leaf area (SLA), leaf thickness (LT), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific root length (SRL), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), leaf phosphorus content (LPC), root nitrogen content (RNC), and root phosphorus content (RPC). The results showed that Korean pine functional traits were significantly correlated to latitude, altitude, GST, MTCM, AP, GSP, and PET. Among the Korean pine functional traits, SLA showed significant linear relationships with LT, LDMC, LNC, LPC, and RPC, and LT showed significant linear relationships with LDMC, SRL, LNC, LPC, RNC, and RPC; the linear relationships between LNC, LPC, RNC, and RPC were also significant. In conclusion, Korean pine functional trait responses to latitude resulted in its adaptation to geographic and climatic factors. The main limiting factors were precipitation and evapotranspiration, followed by altitude, latitude, GST, and MTCM. The impacts of longitude and MAT were not obvious. Changes in precipitation and temperature were most responsible for the close correlation among Korean pine functional traits, reflecting its adaption to habitat variation. PMID:28886053

Robust extraction of functional signals from gene set analysis using a generalized threshold free scoring function

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background A central task in contemporary biosciences is the identification of biological processes showing response in genome-wide differential gene expression experiments. Two types of analysis are common. Either, one generates an ordered list based on the differential expression values of the probed genes and examines the tail areas of the list for over-representation of various functional classes. Alternatively, one monitors the average differential expression level of genes belonging to a given functional class. So far these two types of method have not been combined. Results We introduce a scoring function, Gene Set Z-score (GSZ), for the analysis of functional class over-representation that combines two previous analysis methods. GSZ encompasses popular functions such as correlation, hypergeometric test, Max-Mean and Random Sets as limiting cases. GSZ is stable against changes in class size as well as across different positions of the analysed gene list in tests with randomized data. GSZ shows the best overall performance in a detailed comparison to popular functions using artificial data. Likewise, GSZ stands out in a cross-validation of methods using split real data. A comparison of empirical p-values further shows a strong difference in favour of GSZ, which clearly reports better p-values for top classes than the other methods. Furthermore, GSZ detects relevant biological themes that are missed by the other methods. These observations also hold when comparing GSZ with popular program packages. Conclusion GSZ and improved versions of earlier methods are a useful contribution to the analysis of differential gene expression. The methods and supplementary material are available from the website http://ekhidna.biocenter.helsinki.fi/users/petri/public/GSZ/GSZscore.html. PMID:19775443

Response of Korean pine's functional traits to geography and climate.

PubMed

Dong, Yichen; Liu, Yanhong

2017-01-01

This study analyzed the characteristics of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) functional trait responses to geographic and climatic factors in the eastern region of Northeast China (41°-48°N) and the linear relationships among Korean pine functional traits, to explore this species' adaptability and ecological regulation strategies under different environmental conditions. Korean pine samples were collected from eight sites located at different latitudes, and the following factors were determined for each site: geographic factors-latitude, longitude, and altitude; temperature factors-mean annual temperature (MAT), growth season mean temperature (GST), and mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCM); and moisture factors-annual precipitation (AP), growth season precipitation (GSP), and potential evapotranspiration (PET). The Korean pine functional traits examined were specific leaf area (SLA), leaf thickness (LT), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific root length (SRL), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), leaf phosphorus content (LPC), root nitrogen content (RNC), and root phosphorus content (RPC). The results showed that Korean pine functional traits were significantly correlated to latitude, altitude, GST, MTCM, AP, GSP, and PET. Among the Korean pine functional traits, SLA showed significant linear relationships with LT, LDMC, LNC, LPC, and RPC, and LT showed significant linear relationships with LDMC, SRL, LNC, LPC, RNC, and RPC; the linear relationships between LNC, LPC, RNC, and RPC were also significant. In conclusion, Korean pine functional trait responses to latitude resulted in its adaptation to geographic and climatic factors. The main limiting factors were precipitation and evapotranspiration, followed by altitude, latitude, GST, and MTCM. The impacts of longitude and MAT were not obvious. Changes in precipitation and temperature were most responsible for the close correlation among Korean pine functional traits, reflecting its adaption to habitat variation.

A systematic analysis of the PARP protein family identifies new functions critical for cell physiology

PubMed Central

Vyas, Sejal; Chesarone-Cataldo, Melissa; Todorova, Tanya; Huang, Yun-Han; Chang, Paul

2013-01-01

The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) family of proteins use NAD+ as their substrate to modify acceptor proteins with adenosine diphosphate-ribose (ADPr) modifications. The function of most PARPs under physiological conditions is unknown. Here, to better understand this protein family, we systematically analyze the cell cycle localization of each PARP and of poly(ADP-ribose), a product of PARP activity, then identify the knock-down phenotype of each protein and perform secondary assays to elucidate function. We show that most PARPs are cytoplasmic, identify cell cycle differences in the ratio of nuclear to cytoplasmic poly(ADP-ribose), and identify four phenotypic classes of PARP function. These include the regulation of membrane structures, cell viability, cell division, and the actin cytoskeleton. Further analysis of PARP14 shows that it is a component of focal adhesion complexes required for proper cell motility and focal adhesion function. In total, we show that PARP proteins are critical regulators of eukaryotic physiology. PMID:23917125

Reliability of functional and predictive methods to estimate the hip joint centre in human motion analysis in healthy adults.

PubMed

Kainz, Hans; Hajek, Martin; Modenese, Luca; Saxby, David J; Lloyd, David G; Carty, Christopher P

2017-03-01

In human motion analysis predictive or functional methods are used to estimate the location of the hip joint centre (HJC). It has been shown that the Harrington regression equations (HRE) and geometric sphere fit (GSF) method are the most accurate predictive and functional methods, respectively. To date, the comparative reliability of both approaches has not been assessed. The aims of this study were to (1) compare the reliability of the HRE and the GSF methods, (2) analyse the impact of the number of thigh markers used in the GSF method on the reliability, (3) evaluate how alterations to the movements that comprise the functional trials impact HJC estimations using the GSF method, and (4) assess the influence of the initial guess in the GSF method on the HJC estimation. Fourteen healthy adults were tested on two occasions using a three-dimensional motion capturing system. Skin surface marker positions were acquired while participants performed quite stance, perturbed and non-perturbed functional trials, and walking trials. Results showed that the HRE were more reliable in locating the HJC than the GSF method. However, comparison of inter-session hip kinematics during gait did not show any significant difference between the approaches. Different initial guesses in the GSF method did not result in significant differences in the final HJC location. The GSF method was sensitive to the functional trial performance and therefore it is important to standardize the functional trial performance to ensure a repeatable estimate of the HJC when using the GSF method. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new method to estimate left ventricular circumferential midwall systolic function by standard echocardiography: Concordance between models and validation by speckle tracking.

PubMed

Ballo, Piercarlo; Nistri, Stefano; Bocelli, Arianna; Mele, Donato; Dini, Frank L; Galderisi, Maurizio; Zuppiroli, Alfredo; Mondillo, Sergio

2016-01-15

Assessment of left ventricular circumferential (LVcirc) systolic function by standard echocardiography can be performed by estimating midwall fractional shortening (mFS) and stress-corrected mFS (ScmFS). Their determination is based on spherical or cylindrical LV geometric models, which often yield discrepant values. We developed a new model based on a more realistic truncated ellipsoid (TE) LV shape, and explored the concordance between models among hypertensive patients. We also compared the relationships of different mFS and ScmFS estimates with indexes of LVcirc systolic strain. In 364 hypertensive subjects, mFS was determined using the spherical (mFSspher), cylindrical (mFScyl), and TE model (mFSTE). Corresponding values of ScmFSspher, ScmFScyl, and ScmFSTE were obtained. Global circumferential strain (GCS) and systolic strain rate (GCSR) were also measured by speckle tracking. The three models showed poor concordance for the estimation of mFS, with average differences ranging between 11% and 30% and wide limits of agreement. Similar results were found for ScmFS, where reclassification rates for the identification of abnormal LVcirc systolic function ranged between 18% and 29%. When tested against strain indexes, mFSTE and ScmFSTE showed the best correlations (R=0.81 and R=0.51, p<0.0001 for both) with GCS and GCSR. Multivariable analysis confirmed that mFSTE and ScmFSTE showed the strongest independent associations with LVcirc strain measures. Substantial discrepancies in LVcirc midwall systolic indexes exist between different models, supporting the need of model-specific normative data. The use of the TE model might provide indexes that show the best associations with established strain measures of LVcirc systolic function. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Day/night temperature differences (DNTD) trigger changes in nutrient removal and functional bacteria in membrane bioreactors.

PubMed

Zhang, Shaoqing; Sheng, Binbin; Lin, Wenting; Meng, Fangang

2018-09-15

Temperature is a well-known environmental stress that influences both microbial metabolism and community structure in the biological wastewater treatment systems. In this study, responses of biological performance and sludge microbiota to the long-term day/night temperature differences (DNTD) were investigated in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). The results showed that the functional bacteria could sustained their ecological functions at low DNTD (20/30 °C), resulting in relatively stable performance with respect to nutrient removal. However, when the activated sludge was subjected to a high DNTD (17/33 °C), the effluent concentrations of COD, TN and TP were significantly higher in MBR-B than that in MBR-A. In addition, more severe membrane fouling occurred under the perturbation of high DNTD as revealed by the transmembrane pressure (TMP) profile, which was mainly attributed to the accumulation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The results of 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that DNTD showed negligible effect on the bacterial community structures. Nonetheless, the functional bacteria responded differently to DNTD, which were in accordance with the bioreactor performances. Specifically, Nitrospina (NOB) and Tetrasphaera (PAOs) appeared to be sensitive to both low and high DNTD. In contrast, a low DNTD showed marginal effects on the denitrifiers, while a high DNTD significantly decreased their abundances. More strikingly, filamentous bulking bacteria were found to be well-adapted to DNTD, indicating their tolerance to the daily temperature fluctuation. This study will advance our knowledge regarding the response of microbial ecology of activated sludge to daily temperature variations in full-scale MBRs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Effects of BDNF Val66Met Gene Polymorphism on Serum BDNF and Cognitive Function in Methamphetamine-Dependent Patients and Normal Controls: A Case-Control Study.

PubMed

Su, Hang; Tao, Jingyan; Zhang, Jie; Xie, Ying; Wang, Yue; Zhang, Yu; Han, Bin; Lu, Yuling; Sun, Haiwei; Wei, Youdan; Zou, Shengzhen; Wu, Wenxiu; Zhang, Jiajia; Xu, Ke; Zhang, Xiangyang; He, Jincai

2015-10-01

Studies suggest that a functional polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF Val66Met) may contribute to methamphetamine dependence. We hypothesized that this polymorphism had a role in cognitive deficits in methamphetamine-dependent patients and in the relationship of serum BDNF with cognitive impairments. We conducted a case-control study by assessing 194 methamphetamine-dependent patients and 378 healthy volunteers without history of drug use on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and the presence of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and serum BDNF levels. We showed no significant differences in genotype and allele distributions between the methamphetamine-dependent patients and controls. Some aspects of cognitive function significantly differed in the 2 groups. The serum BDNF levels in methamphetamine-dependent patients were significantly higher than those of the healthy controls. In the patients, partial correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between serum BDNF and the delayed memory index score. The RBANS scores showed statistically significant BDNF level × genotype interaction. Further regression analyses showed a significant positive association between BDNF levels and the RBANS total score, immediate memory or attention index among Val homozygote patients, whereas a significant negative association of BDNF levels with the RBANS total score, visuospatial/constructional, or language index was found among Met/Val heterozygous patients. We demonstrated significant impairment on some aspects of cognitive function and increased BDNF levels in methamphetamine-dependent patients as well as genotypic differences in the relationships between BDNF levels and RBANS scores on the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism only in these patients.

Distinct Aging Effects on Functional Networks in Good and Poor Cognitive Performers

PubMed Central

Lee, Annie; Tan, Mingzhen; Qiu, Anqi

2016-01-01

Brain network hubs are susceptible to normal aging processes and disruptions of their functional connectivity are detrimental to decline in cognitive functions in older adults. However, it remains unclear how the functional connectivity of network hubs cope with cognitive heterogeneity in an aging population. This study utilized cognitive and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data, cluster analysis, and graph network analysis to examine age-related alterations in the network hubs’ functional connectivity of good and poor cognitive performers. Our results revealed that poor cognitive performers showed age-dependent disruptions in the functional connectivity of the right insula and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), while good cognitive performers showed age-related disruptions in the functional connectivity of the left insula and PCC. Additionally, the left PCC had age-related declines in the functional connectivity with the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Most interestingly, good cognitive performers showed age-related declines in the functional connectivity of the left insula and PCC with their right homotopic structures. These results may provide insights of neuronal correlates for understanding individual differences in aging. In particular, our study suggests prominent protection roles of the left insula and PCC and bilateral ACC in good performers. PMID:27667972

Development of patient-based questionnaire about aesthetic and functional differences between overdentures implant-supported and overdentures tooth-supported. Study of 43 patients with a follow up of 1 year

PubMed Central

GARGARI, M.; PRETE, V.; PUJIA, M.; CERUSO, F. M.

2013-01-01

SUMMARY Development of patient-based questionnaire about aesthetic and functional differences between overdentures implant-supported and overdentures tooth-supported. Study of 43 patients with a follow up of 1 year. Objective The aim of this study is to compare functional efficiency and patients satisfaction between tooth-supported and implant-supported overdenture through a questionnaire that accurately reflects the real concerns of patients with dental prosthesis. Methods Forty-three patients were selected from the out patient clinic, Department of Dentistry “Fra G.B. Orsenigo Ospedale San Pietro F.B.F.”, Rome, Italy. Their age were ranging from 61 to 83 years. Eighteen patients were rehabilitated with overdentures supported by natural teeth and twenty-five with overdentures implant-supported. Discussion and Result The questionnaire proposed one year after the insertion of the prosthetis has showed that there isn’t difference statistically significant in terms of function, phonetics and aesthetics between overdenture implant-supported and tooth-supported. Conclusions The results of the questionnaire showed that the patients generally had a high level of satisfaction concern to the masticatory function, esthetics and phonetics. In addition, on average, they haven’t difficulty in removal and insertion of the denture and in oral hygiene. They haven’t in both groups problems related to fractures. PMID:23741602

Evaluation of postoperative anal functions using endoanal ultrasonography and anorectal manometry in children with congenital anorectal malformations.

PubMed

Wang, Zhichao; Hu, Lijun; Jin, Xianqing; Li, Xiaoqing; Xu, Lixia

2016-03-01

The aim of this study was to assess the postoperative anorectal anatomy and function in children with congenital anorectal malformations (ARM) using endoanal ultrasonography (EUS) and anorectal manometry. This study included 47 children who had undergone posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) or transperineal anorectoplasty for the repair of an ARM. Children were grouped according to symptoms of defecation disorder, including normal defecation, fecal soiling, fecal incontinence, and constipation. Ten children with no history of anal or rectal diseases served as healthy controls. A well-established scoring system was used for the evaluation of anal function and defecation disorder. EUS showed significant differences in the thickness of the interior sphincter between the ARM patients and the healthy controls (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was found in the thickness of the interior sphincters between the PSARP group and transperineal anorectoplasty group (P>0.05). Anorectal manometry showed that the balloon volumes were significantly different between the surgical group and the control group (P<0.01), and between the low defect group and the intermediate-high defect group (P=0.022). Balloon volume was significantly correlated with anal function scores (r=-0.30, P<0.05). EUS and anorectal manometry can provide objective assessment of postoperative anorectal anatomy and function in children with ARM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diving behaviour and haemoglobin function: the primary structure of the alpha- and beta-chains of the sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and its functional implications.

PubMed

Petruzzelli, R; Aureli, G; Lania, A; Galtieri, A; Desideri, A; Giardina, B

1996-06-15

The amino acid sequence of the alpha- and beta-chains of haemoglobin (Hb) from the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) has been determined. Comparison with that of human Hb shows differences in several residues involved in both alpha 1 beta 1 and alpha 1 beta 2 packing contacts. On the whole, in spite of the mutations, the essential characteristics of both interfaces seem to be maintained. The functional properties of the sea turtle Hb have been investigated at different temperatures and as a function of proton, chloride and organic phosphate concentrations. In addition to overall similarities shared with most of the vertebrate Hbs previously described, this molecule shows significant differences which could be related to the life behaviour of the turtle. In fact, while the shape of the Bohr-effect curve is well adapted for gas exchange during prolonged dives, the very small enthalpy change for O2 binding ensures that O2 delivery becomes essentially insensitive to the temperature changes of the environment. Moreover, and similarly to the case of emperor penguin Hb, the small alkaline Bohr effect appears to be only choride-linked, since the pH dependence of the O2 affinity is abolished in the absence of this ion. These functional characteristics are discussed on the basis of the primary structure of alpha- and beta-chains.

Relevance of the DFT method to study expanded porphyrins with different topologies.

PubMed

Torrent-Sucarrat, Miquel; Navarro, Sara; Cossío, Fernando P; Anglada, Josep M; Luis, Josep M

2017-12-15

Meso-aryl expanded porphyrins present a structural versatility that allows them to achieve different topologies with distinct aromaticities. Several studies appeared in the literature studying these topological switches from an experimental and theoretical point of view. Most of these publications include density functional theory calculations, being the B3LYP the most used methodology. In this work, we show that the selection of the functional has a critical role on the geometric, energetic, and magnetic results of these expanded porphyrins, and that the use of an inadequate methodology can even generate spurious stationary points on the potential energy surface. To illustrate these aspects, in this article we have studied different molecular distortions of two expanded porphyrins, [32]-heptaphyrin and [26]-hexaphyrin using 11 DFT functionals and performing single point energy calculations at the local pair natural orbital coupled cluster DLPNO-CCSD(T) method, which have been carried out for benchmarking purposes. For some selected functionals, the dispersion effects have also been evaluated using the D3-Grimme's dispersion correction with Becke-Johnson damping. Our results let us to conclude that the CAM-B3LYP, M05-2X, and M06-2X functionals are the methodologies that provide a more consistent description of these topological switches, while other methods, such as B3LYP, BPE, and BP86, show a biased description. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of patient-based questionnaire about aesthetic and functional differences between overdentures implant-supported and overdentures tooth-supported. Study of 43 patients with a follow up of 1 year.

PubMed

Gargari, M; Prete, V; Pujia, M; Ceruso, F M

2012-10-01

Development of patient-based questionnaire about aesthetic and functional differences between overdentures implant-supported and overdentures tooth-supported. Study of 43 patients with a follow up of 1 year. The aim of this study is to compare functional efficiency and patients satisfaction between tooth-supported and implant-supported overdenture through a questionnaire that accurately reflects the real concerns of patients with dental prosthesis. Forty-three patients were selected from the out patient clinic, Department of Dentistry "Fra G.B. Orsenigo Ospedale San Pietro F.B.F.", Rome, Italy. Their age were ranging from 61 to 83 years. Eighteen patients were rehabilitated with overdentures supported by natural teeth and twenty-five with overdentures implant-supported. DISCUSSION AND RESULT: The questionnaire proposed one year after the insertion of the prosthetis has showed that there isn't difference statistically significant in terms of function, phonetics and aesthetics between overdenture implant-supported and tooth-supported. The results of the questionnaire showed that the patients generally had a high level of satisfaction concern to the masticatory function, esthetics and phonetics. In addition, on average, they haven't difficulty in removal and insertion of the denture and in oral hygiene. They haven't in both groups problems related to fractures.

Genetic Diversity of Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins Revealed by Structurally and Functionally Diverse Hemoglobins

PubMed Central

Remington, Nicole; Stevens, Robert D.; Wells, Randall S.; Hohn, Aleta; Dhungana, Suraj; Taboy, Celine H.; Crumbliss, Alvin L.; Henkens, Robert; Bonaventura, Celia

2007-01-01

Studies of structure-function relationships in the respiratory proteins of marine mammals revealed unexpected variations in the number and types of hemoglobins (Hbs) present in coastal bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. We obtained blood samples from free-ranging coastal bottlenose dolphins as a component of capture-release studies. We found that the oxygen-binding functions of bottlenose dolphin blood are poised between effector-saturated and unsaturated levels, enabling exercise-dependent shifts in oxygen transfer functions. Isolated bottlenose dolphin Hbs showed elevated pH sensitivities (Bohr effects) and appreciably lower oxygen affinities than adult human Hb in the absence of allosteric effectors. These properties may be an adaptive modification that enhance oxygen delivery during diving episodes when oxygen tensions and effector levels are low. The Hbs of individual dolphins showed similar oxygen affinities, responses to effectors, and expression of heme-heme interaction in oxygen binding, but differed in their redox potentials and rates of autoxidation. The heterogeneity suggested by these functional variations in Hbs of individual dolphins was born out by variations in the molecular weights and numbers of their α and β globin chains. Although coastal bottlenose dolphins were expected to have a single type of Hb, the mass differences observed revealed considerable genetic diversity. There were multiple Hb forms in some individuals and differences in Hb patterns among individuals within the same community. PMID:17604574

Genetic diversity of coastal bottlenose dolphins revealed by structurally and functionally diverse hemoglobins.

PubMed

Remington, Nicole; Stevens, Robert D; Wells, Randall S; Holn, Aleta; Dhungana, Suraj; Taboy, Celine H; Crumbliss, Alvin L; Henkens, Robert; Bonaventura, Celia

2007-08-15

Studies of structure-function relationships in the respiratory proteins of marine mammals revealed unexpected variations in the number and types of hemoglobins (Hbs) present in coastal bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. We obtained blood samples from free-ranging coastal bottlenose dolphins as a component of capture-release studies. We found that the oxygen-binding functions of bottlenose dolphin blood are poised between effector-saturated and unsaturated levels, enabling exercise-dependent shifts in oxygen transfer functions. Isolated bottlenose dolphin Hbs showed elevated pH sensitivities (Bohr effects) and appreciably lower oxygen affinities than adult human Hb in the absence of allosteric effectors. These properties may be an adaptive modification that enhances oxygen delivery during diving episodes when oxygen tensions and effector levels are low. The Hbs of individual dolphins showed similar oxygen affinities, responses to effectors, and expression of heme-heme interaction in oxygen binding, but differed in their redox potentials and rates of autoxidation. The heterogeneity suggested by these functional variations in Hbs of individual dolphins was born out by variations in the molecular weights and numbers of their alpha and beta globin chains. Although coastal bottlenose dolphins were expected to have a single type of Hb, the mass differences observed revealed considerable genetic diversity. There were multiple Hb forms in some individuals and differences in Hb patterns among individuals within the same community.

Meta-analysis of chicken--salmonella infection experiments.

PubMed

Te Pas, Marinus F W; Hulsegge, Ina; Schokker, Dirkjan; Smits, Mari A; Fife, Mark; Zoorob, Rima; Endale, Marie-Laure; Rebel, Johanna M J

2012-04-24

Chicken meat and eggs can be a source of human zoonotic pathogens, especially Salmonella species. These food items contain a potential hazard for humans. Chickens lines differ in susceptibility for Salmonella and can harbor Salmonella pathogens without showing clinical signs of illness. Many investigations including genomic studies have examined the mechanisms how chickens react to infection. Apart from the innate immune response, many physiological mechanisms and pathways are reported to be involved in the chicken host response to Salmonella infection. The objective of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of diverse experiments to identify general and host specific mechanisms to the Salmonella challenge. Diverse chicken lines differing in susceptibility to Salmonella infection were challenged with different Salmonella serovars at several time points. Various tissues were sampled at different time points post-infection, and resulting host transcriptional differences investigated using different microarray platforms. The meta-analysis was performed with the R-package metaMA to create lists of differentially regulated genes. These gene lists showed many similarities for different chicken breeds and tissues, and also for different Salmonella serovars measured at different times post infection. Functional biological analysis of these differentially expressed gene lists revealed several common mechanisms for the chicken host response to Salmonella infection. The meta-analysis-specific genes (i.e. genes found differentially expressed only in the meta-analysis) confirmed and expanded the biological functional mechanisms. The meta-analysis combination of heterogeneous expression profiling data provided useful insights into the common metabolic pathways and functions of different chicken lines infected with different Salmonella serovars.

Meta-analysis of Chicken – Salmonella infection experiments

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Chicken meat and eggs can be a source of human zoonotic pathogens, especially Salmonella species. These food items contain a potential hazard for humans. Chickens lines differ in susceptibility for Salmonella and can harbor Salmonella pathogens without showing clinical signs of illness. Many investigations including genomic studies have examined the mechanisms how chickens react to infection. Apart from the innate immune response, many physiological mechanisms and pathways are reported to be involved in the chicken host response to Salmonella infection. The objective of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of diverse experiments to identify general and host specific mechanisms to the Salmonella challenge. Results Diverse chicken lines differing in susceptibility to Salmonella infection were challenged with different Salmonella serovars at several time points. Various tissues were sampled at different time points post-infection, and resulting host transcriptional differences investigated using different microarray platforms. The meta-analysis was performed with the R-package metaMA to create lists of differentially regulated genes. These gene lists showed many similarities for different chicken breeds and tissues, and also for different Salmonella serovars measured at different times post infection. Functional biological analysis of these differentially expressed gene lists revealed several common mechanisms for the chicken host response to Salmonella infection. The meta-analysis-specific genes (i.e. genes found differentially expressed only in the meta-analysis) confirmed and expanded the biological functional mechanisms. Conclusions The meta-analysis combination of heterogeneous expression profiling data provided useful insights into the common metabolic pathways and functions of different chicken lines infected with different Salmonella serovars. PMID:22531008

Behavioural and functional characterization of Kv10.1 (Eag1) knockout mice

PubMed Central

Ufartes, Roser; Schneider, Tomasz; Mortensen, Lena Sünke; de Juan Romero, Camino; Hentrich, Klaus; Knoetgen, Hendrik; Beilinson, Vadim; Moebius, Wiebke; Tarabykin, Victor; Alves, Frauke; Pardo, Luis A.; Rawlins, J. Nicholas P.; Stuehmer, Walter

2013-01-01

Kv10.1 (Eag1), member of the Kv10 family of voltage-gated potassium channels, is preferentially expressed in adult brain. The aim of the present study was to unravel the functional role of Kv10.1 in the brain by generating knockout mice, where the voltage sensor and pore region of Kv10.1 were removed to render non-functional proteins through deletion of exon 7 of the KCNH1 gene using the ‘3 Lox P strategy’. Kv10.1-deficient mice show no obvious alterations during embryogenesis and develop normally to adulthood; cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum appear anatomically normal. Other tests, including general health screen, sensorimotor functioning and gating, anxiety, social behaviour, learning and memory did not show any functional aberrations in Kv10.1 null mice. Kv10.1 null mice display mild hyperactivity and longer-lasting haloperidol-induced catalepsy, but there was no difference between genotypes in amphetamine sensitization and withdrawal, reactivity to apomorphine and haloperidol in the prepulse inhibition tests or to antidepressants in the haloperidol-induced catalepsy. Furthermore, electrical properties of Kv10.1 in cerebellar Purkinje cells did not show any difference between genotypes. Bearing in mind that Kv10.1 is overexpressed in over 70% of all human tumours and that its inhibition leads to a reduced tumour cell proliferation, the fact that deletion of Kv10.1 does not show a marked phenotype is a prerequisite for utilizing Kv10.1 blocking and/or reduction techniques, such as siRNA, to treat cancer. PMID:23424202

Econophysics: Master curve for price-impact function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lillo, Fabrizio; Farmer, J. Doyne; Mantegna, Rosario N.

2003-01-01

The price reaction to a single transaction depends on transaction volume, the identity of the stock, and possibly many other factors. Here we show that, by taking into account the differences in liquidity for stocks of different size classes of market capitalization, we can rescale both the average price shift and the transaction volume to obtain a uniform price-impact curve for all size classes of firm for four different years (1995-98). This single-curve collapse of the price-impact function suggests that fluctuations from the supply-and-demand equilibrium for many financial assets, differing in economic sectors of activity and market capitalization, are governed by the same statistical rule.

Quality of life measures in glioma patients with different grades: A preliminary study.

PubMed

Mahalakshmi, P; Vanisree, A J

2015-01-01

Plethora of information exists in the literature on pathology of the glioma while prevailing research data on quality-of-life (QOL) of glioma patients marks dearth thus demanding more studies. In this study, we examined the QOL of different grades of glioma patients among the Chennai population in India. A total of 162 patients with different grades of glioma enrolled from August 2007 to February 2011, at their first contact to Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Government General Hospital, Chennai, India were included and their QOL was assessed by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core QOL questionnaire (EORTC QLQc-30), EORTC brain cancer module (QLQ BN-20). Both low and high grade glioma (LGG and HGG) patients had poor mean scores in social functioning (87.0), physical functioning (82.0) and emotional functioning (75.2) and role functioning (58.9). The mean scores on cognitive functioning (61.9) and global QOL (60.3) were better. Age, Karnofsky performance status, World Health Organization grades showed significant associations with all functional scales. The percentage values were higher for symptoms of fatigue (76.9%), pain (71.5%), financial difficulties (77.6%) and appetite loss (38.46%) in both LGG and HGG. Similarly, with respect to QLQ-BN20 domains, HGG patients showed more symptoms than low grade with a significant correlation in communication deficit problems (P = 0.02), headache (P = 0.04), seizures (P < 0.01), hair loss (P < 0.05) than the other symptoms. This initial assessment suggests that an increasing burden of symptoms exists, with poor QOL and survival, which has become a major concern in different grades of glioma patients.

[Distribution of Urban Soil Heavy Metal and Pollution Evaluation in Different Functional Zones of Yinchuan City].

PubMed

Wang, You-qi; Bai, Yi-ru; Wang, Jian-yu

2016-02-15

Surface soil samples (0-20 cm) from eight different functional areas in Yinchuan city were collected. There were 10 samples respectively in each functional area. The urban soil heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Pb, Mn, Cu and Cr) pollution characteristics and sources in eight different functional areas were evaluated by mathematical statistics and geostatistical analysis method. Meanwhile, the spatial distributions of heavy metals based on the geography information system (GIS) were plotted. The average values of total Zn, Cd, Pb, Mn, Cu and Cr were 74.87, 0.15, 29.02, 553.55, 40.37 and 80.79 mg x kg(-1), respectively. The results showed that the average value of soil heavy metals was higher than the soil background value of Ningxia, which indicated accumulation of the heavy metals in urban soil. The single factor pollution index of soil heavy metals was in the sequence of Cu > Pb > Zn > Cr > Cd > Mn. The average values of total Zn, Cd, Pb and Cr were higher in north east, south west and central city, while the average values of Mn and Cu were higher in north east and central city. There was moderate pollution in road and industrial area of Yinchuan, while the other functional areas showed slight pollution according to Nemoro synthesis index. The pollution degree of different functional areas was as follows: road > industrial area > business district > medical treatment area > residential area > public park > development zone > science and education area. The results indicated that the soil heavy metal pollution condition in Yinchuan City has been affected by human activities with the development of economy.

Individual differences in long-range time representation.

PubMed

Agostino, Camila S; Caetano, Marcelo S; Balci, Fuat; Claessens, Peter M E; Zana, Yossi

2017-04-01

On the basis of experimental data, long-range time representation has been proposed to follow a highly compressed power function, which has been hypothesized to explain the time inconsistency found in financial discount rate preferences. The aim of this study was to evaluate how well linear and power function models explain empirical data from individual participants tested in different procedural settings. The line paradigm was used in five different procedural variations with 35 adult participants. Data aggregated over the participants showed that fitted linear functions explained more than 98% of the variance in all procedures. A linear regression fit also outperformed a power model fit for the aggregated data. An individual-participant-based analysis showed better fits of a linear model to the data of 14 participants; better fits of a power function with an exponent β > 1 to the data of 12 participants; and better fits of a power function with β < 1 to the data of the remaining nine participants. Of the 35 volunteers, the null hypothesis β = 1 was rejected for 20. The dispersion of the individual β values was approximated well by a normal distribution. These results suggest that, on average, humans perceive long-range time intervals not in a highly compressed, biased manner, but rather in a linear pattern. However, individuals differ considerably in their subjective time scales. This contribution sheds new light on the average and individual psychophysical functions of long-range time representation, and suggests that any attribution of deviation from exponential discount rates in intertemporal choice to the compressed nature of subjective time must entail the characterization of subjective time on an individual-participant basis.

Robust Resilience of the Frontotemporal Syntax System to Aging

PubMed Central

Samu, Dávid; Davis, Simon W.; Geerligs, Linda; Mustafa, Abdur; Tyler, Lorraine K.

2016-01-01

Brain function is thought to become less specialized with age. However, this view is largely based on findings of increased activation during tasks that fail to separate task-related processes (e.g., attention, decision making) from the cognitive process under examination. Here we take a systems-level approach to separate processes specific to language comprehension from those related to general task demands and to examine age differences in functional connectivity both within and between those systems. A large population-based sample (N = 111; 22–87 years) from the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) was scanned using functional MRI during two versions of an experiment: a natural listening version in which participants simply listened to spoken sentences and an explicit task version in which they rated the acceptability of the same sentences. Independent components analysis across the combined data from both versions showed that although task-free language comprehension activates only the auditory and frontotemporal (FTN) syntax networks, performing a simple task with the same sentences recruits several additional networks. Remarkably, functionality of the critical FTN is maintained across age groups, showing no difference in within-network connectivity or responsivity to syntactic processing demands despite gray matter loss and reduced connectivity to task-related networks. We found no evidence for reduced specialization or compensation with age. Overt task performance was maintained across the lifespan and performance in older, but not younger, adults related to crystallized knowledge, suggesting that decreased between-network connectivity may be compensated for by older adults' richer knowledge base. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding spoken language requires the rapid integration of information at many different levels of analysis. Given the complexity and speed of this process, it is remarkably well preserved with age. Although previous work claims that this preserved functionality is due to compensatory activation of regions outside the frontotemporal language network, we use a novel systems-level approach to show that these “compensatory” activations simply reflect age differences in response to experimental task demands. Natural, task-free language comprehension solely recruits auditory and frontotemporal networks, the latter of which is similarly responsive to language-processing demands across the lifespan. These findings challenge the conventional approach to neurocognitive aging by showing that the neural underpinnings of a given cognitive function depend on how you test it. PMID:27170120

Chronic stress and neural function: accounting for sex and age.

PubMed

Luine, V N; Beck, K D; Bowman, R E; Frankfurt, M; Maclusky, N J

2007-10-01

Cognitive responses to stress follow the temporally dependent pattern originally established by Selye (1) wherein short-term stressors elicit adaptive responses whereas continued stress (chronic) results in maladaptive changes--deleterious effects on physiological systems and impaired cognition. However, this pattern for cognitive effects appears to apply to only half the population (males) and, more specifically, to young, adult males. Females show different cognitive responses to stress. In contrast to impaired cognition in males after chronic stress, female rodents show enhanced performance on the same memory tasks after the same stress. Not only cognition, but anxiety, shows sex-dependent changes following chronic stress--stress is anxiolytic in males and anxiogenic in females. Moreover, behavioral responses to chronic stress are different in developing as well as aging subjects (both sexes) as compared to adults. In aged rats, chronic stress enhances recognition memory in both sexes, does not alter spatial memory, and anxiety effects are opposite to young adults. When pregnant dams are exposed to chronic stress, at adulthood the offspring display yet different consequences of stress on anxiety and cognition, and, in contrast to adulthood when the behavioral effects of stress are reversible, prenatal stress effects appear enduring. Changing levels of estradiol in the sexes over the lifespan appear to contribute to the differences in response to stress. Thus, theories of stress dependent modulations in CNS function--developed solely in male models, focused on peripheral physiological processes and tested in adults--may require revision when applied to a more diverse population (age- and sex-wise) at least in relation to the neural functions of cognition and anxiety. Moreover, these results suggest that other stressors and neural functions should be investigated to determine whether age, sex and gonadal hormones also have an impact.

Revealed and stated preference valuation and transfer: A within-sample comparison of water quality improvement values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrini, Silvia; Schaafsma, Marije; Bateman, Ian

2014-06-01

Benefit transfer (BT) methods are becoming increasingly important for environmental policy, but the empirical findings regarding transfer validity are mixed. A novel valuation survey was designed to obtain both stated preference (SP) and revealed preference (RP) data concerning river water quality values from a large sample of households. Both dichotomous choice and payment card contingent valuation (CV) and travel cost (TC) data were collected. Resulting valuations were directly compared and used for BT analyses using both unit value and function transfer approaches. WTP estimates are found to pass the convergence validity test. BT results show that the CV data produce lower transfer errors, below 20% for both unit value and function transfer, than TC data especially when using function transfer. Further, comparison of WTP estimates suggests that in all cases, differences between methods are larger than differences between study areas. Results show that when multiple studies are available, using welfare estimates from the same area but based on a different method consistently results in larger errors than transfers across space keeping the method constant.

Urban noise functional stratification for estimating average annual sound level.

PubMed

Rey Gozalo, Guillermo; Barrigón Morillas, Juan Miguel; Prieto Gajardo, Carlos

2015-06-01

Road traffic noise causes many health problems and the deterioration of the quality of urban life; thus, adequate spatial noise and temporal assessment methods are required. Different methods have been proposed for the spatial evaluation of noise in cities, including the categorization method. Until now, this method has only been applied for the study of spatial variability with measurements taken over a week. In this work, continuous measurements of 1 year carried out in 21 different locations in Madrid (Spain), which has more than three million inhabitants, were analyzed. The annual average sound levels and the temporal variability were studied in the proposed categories. The results show that the three proposed categories highlight the spatial noise stratification of the studied city in each period of the day (day, evening, and night) and in the overall indicators (L(And), L(Aden), and L(A24)). Also, significant differences between the diurnal and nocturnal sound levels show functional stratification in these categories. Therefore, this functional stratification offers advantages from both spatial and temporal perspectives by reducing the sampling points and the measurement time.

Sex Differences in Severity, Social Functioning, Adherence to Treatment, and Cognition of Adolescents with Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background. Previous studies have reported sex differences in the clinical presentation and outcome of adult patients with schizophrenia; the aim of present study was to compare the clinical characteristics, social functioning, adherence to treatment, and cognition of adolescents with this diagnosis in a six-month followup. Methods. A total of 87 adolescents with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), the Matrics Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), and the Rating of Medication Influences (ROMI). Results. Both groups showed a similar improvement in all PANSS factors and in the PSP scores during the followup. Males better adhered to treatment. Females displayed better results in the area of social cognition (F = 6.3, df = 2,52, and p = 0.003) and attention/vigilance (F = 8.3, df = 2,51, and p = 0.001). Conclusions. Male and female adolescents showed similar clinical presentation and functioning but a different pattern of cognitive improvement and adherence to treatment. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov II3/02/0811.‏ PMID:27703813

Sex Differences in Severity, Social Functioning, Adherence to Treatment, and Cognition of Adolescents with Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Pérez-Garza, Rodolfo; Victoria-Figueroa, Gamaliel; Ulloa-Flores, Rosa Elena

2016-01-01

Background. Previous studies have reported sex differences in the clinical presentation and outcome of adult patients with schizophrenia; the aim of present study was to compare the clinical characteristics, social functioning, adherence to treatment, and cognition of adolescents with this diagnosis in a six-month followup. Methods. A total of 87 adolescents with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), the Matrics Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), and the Rating of Medication Influences (ROMI). Results. Both groups showed a similar improvement in all PANSS factors and in the PSP scores during the followup. Males better adhered to treatment. Females displayed better results in the area of social cognition ( F = 6.3, df = 2,52, and p = 0.003) and attention/vigilance ( F = 8.3, df = 2,51, and p = 0.001). Conclusions. Male and female adolescents showed similar clinical presentation and functioning but a different pattern of cognitive improvement and adherence to treatment. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov II3/02/0811.‏.

[Reference interval in preliminary investigation of maternal thyroid function during pregnancy in Shenzhen China].

PubMed

Yu, Lian; Yue, Huakui; Lin, Haoyun; Wu, Wenyuan

2014-11-04

To explore the thyroid function distribution of different trimesters among normal pregnant women and establish the reference interval for maternal thyroid function during pregnancy in Shenzhen, China. A prospective study was conducted for healthy pregnant women in first trimester (n = 334), second trimester (n = 272), third trimester (n = 271) and non-pregnant controls (n = 77) from December 2012 to June 2013 at our hospital. Free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (TT3) and thyroxine (T4) of four groups were measured and analyzed. And the reference intervals for different trimesters were established. TSH declined in the first trimester and then rose in the second trimester. The reference ranges of TSH for early, middle and late pregnancy were 0.08-4.39, 0.41-4.16 and 0.30-5.46 mIU/L respectively. FT4 and healthy control groups showed no significant difference in the first trimester. But it declined in the second trimester. The reference ranges of FT4 for early, middle and late pregnancy were 7.74-14.58, 6.81-12.00 and 6.36-10.99 pmol/L respectively. FT3 rose slightly in the first trimester and then gradually decreased. The reference ranges of FT3 for early, middle and late pregnancy were 3.59-5.59, 3.34-4.91 and 3.09-4.58 pmol/L respectively. As compared with healthy control women in Shenzhen, thyroid function indicators of pregnant women show statistically significant differences. And the establishment of indicators of women's thyroid function reference intervals for different trimesters has important clinical significance in Shenzhen.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) influences the connectivity of the prefrontal cortex at rest

PubMed Central

Tunbridge, Elizabeth M.; Farrell, Sarah M.; Harrison, Paul J.; Mackay, Clare E.

2013-01-01

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) modulates dopamine in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and influences PFC dopamine-dependent cognitive task performance. A human COMT polymorphism (Val158Met) alters enzyme activity and is associated with both the activation and functional connectivity of the PFC during task performance, particularly working memory. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a data-driven, independent components analysis (ICA) approach to compare resting state functional connectivity within the executive control network (ECN) between young, male COMT Val158 (n = 27) and Met158 (n = 28) homozygotes. COMT genotype effects on grey matter were assessed using voxel-based morphometry. COMT genotype significantly modulated functional connectivity within the ECN, which included the head of the caudate, and anterior cingulate and frontal cortical regions. Val158 homozygotes showed greater functional connectivity between a cluster within the left ventrolateral PFC and the rest of the ECN (using a threshold of Z > 2.3 and a family-wise error cluster significance level of p < 0.05). This difference occurred in the absence of any alterations in grey matter. Our data show that COMT Val158Met affects the functional connectivity of the PFC at rest, complementing its prominent role in the activation and functional connectivity of this region during cognitive task performance. The results suggest that genotype-related differences in prefrontal dopaminergic tone result in neuroadaptive changes in basal functional connectivity, potentially including subtle COMT genotype-dependent differences in the relative coupling of task-positive and task-negative regions, which could in turn contribute to its effects on brain activation, connectivity, and behaviour. PMID:23228511

Functions of Autobiographical Memory in Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Vranić, Andrea; Jelić, Margareta; Tonković, Mirjana

2018-01-01

Functional approach to autobiographical memory (AM) posits its three broad functions: directive, self, and social. Although these functions are probably universal, life stage and gender variations are expected. This research builds on previous studies investigating the validity of Thinking About Life Experiences Questionnaire (TALE; Bluck and Alea, 2011). A sample of 365 adults (56% female, mean age 43.3 years), divided in 2 age cohorts (young: 18-45 years, old: 46-90 years), used TALE, to rate their tendency of using AM for three different purposes, and measures of self-concept clarity, attachment in close relationships and time perspective. Confirmatory factor analysis of TALE confirmed the tripartite model of AM functions and further analysis showed partial factorial equivalence across age and gender groups. Young tend to use AM more for directing future behavior and social-bonding, while no age differences were found in the use of AM to serve self-function. As for gender variations, women tend to use AM more for directing their behavior, while no other gender differences in the use of AM were found. TALE showed good internal consistency and convergent validity of the three subscales. The theory-driven hypotheses that individuals with low self-concept clarity would use AM more often to serve a self-function, those with higher levels of attachment anxiety would use AM more often to serve a social function, and those past-oriented would use memory more often for directive purpose, were all confirmed. Also confirmed was the notion of Past Negative Orientation to be more related to the directive use of AM than Past Positive Time Orientation. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Density, structure, and dynamics of water: The effect of van der Waals interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jue; Román-Pérez, G.; Soler, Jose M.; Artacho, Emilio; Fernández-Serra, M.-V.

2011-01-01

It is known that ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of liquid water at ambient conditions, based on the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to density functional theory (DFT), with commonly used functionals fail to produce structural and diffusive properties in reasonable agreement with experiment. This is true for canonical, constant temperature simulations where the density of the liquid is fixed to the experimental density. The equilibrium density, at ambient conditions, of DFT water has recently been shown by Schmidt et al. [J. Phys. Chem. B, 113, 11959 (2009)] to be underestimated by different GGA functionals for exchange and correlation, and corrected by the addition of interatomic pair potentials to describe van der Waals (vdW) interactions. In this contribution we present a DFT-AIMD study of liquid water using several GGA functionals as well as the van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) of Dion et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 246401 (2004)]. As expected, we find that the density of water is grossly underestimated by GGA functionals. When a vdW-DF is used, the density improves drastically and the experimental diffusivity is reproduced without the need of thermal corrections. We analyze the origin of the density differences between all the functionals. We show that the vdW-DF increases the population of non-H-bonded interstitial sites, at distances between the first and second coordination shells. However, it excessively weakens the H-bond network, collapsing the second coordination shell. This structural problem is partially associated to the choice of GGA exchange in the vdW-DF. We show that a different choice for the exchange functional is enough to achieve an overall improvement both in structure and diffusivity.

Functions of Autobiographical Memory in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Vranić, Andrea; Jelić, Margareta; Tonković, Mirjana

2018-01-01

Functional approach to autobiographical memory (AM) posits its three broad functions: directive, self, and social. Although these functions are probably universal, life stage and gender variations are expected. This research builds on previous studies investigating the validity of Thinking About Life Experiences Questionnaire (TALE; Bluck and Alea, 2011). A sample of 365 adults (56% female, mean age 43.3 years), divided in 2 age cohorts (young: 18–45 years, old: 46–90 years), used TALE, to rate their tendency of using AM for three different purposes, and measures of self-concept clarity, attachment in close relationships and time perspective. Confirmatory factor analysis of TALE confirmed the tripartite model of AM functions and further analysis showed partial factorial equivalence across age and gender groups. Young tend to use AM more for directing future behavior and social-bonding, while no age differences were found in the use of AM to serve self-function. As for gender variations, women tend to use AM more for directing their behavior, while no other gender differences in the use of AM were found. TALE showed good internal consistency and convergent validity of the three subscales. The theory-driven hypotheses that individuals with low self-concept clarity would use AM more often to serve a self-function, those with higher levels of attachment anxiety would use AM more often to serve a social function, and those past-oriented would use memory more often for directive purpose, were all confirmed. Also confirmed was the notion of Past Negative Orientation to be more related to the directive use of AM than Past Positive Time Orientation. Limitations and future directions are discussed. PMID:29599732

Different Requirements for Proteolytic Processing of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 5/6/7/8 Ligands in Drosophila melanogaster*

PubMed Central

Fritsch, Cornelia; Sawala, Annick; Harris, Robin; Maartens, Aidan; Sutcliffe, Catherine; Ashe, Hilary L.; Ray, Robert P.

2012-01-01

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are synthesized as proproteins that undergo proteolytic processing by furin/subtilisin proprotein convertases to release the active ligand. Here we study processing of BMP5/6/7/8 proteins, including the Drosophila orthologs Glass Bottom Boat (Gbb) and Screw (Scw) and human BMP7. Gbb and Scw have three functional furin/subtilisin proprotein convertase cleavage sites; two between the prodomain and ligand domain, which we call the Main and Shadow sites, and one within the prodomain, which we call the Pro site. In Gbb each site can be cleaved independently, although efficient cleavage at the Shadow site requires cleavage at the Main site, and remarkably, none of the sites is essential for Gbb function. Rather, Gbb must be processed at either the Pro or Main site to produce a functional ligand. Like Gbb, the Pro and Main sites in Scw can be cleaved independently, but cleavage at the Shadow site is dependent on cleavage at the Main site. However, both Pro and Main sites are essential for Scw function. Thus, Gbb and Scw have different processing requirements. The BMP7 ligand rescues gbb mutants in Drosophila, but full-length BMP7 cannot, showing that functional differences in the prodomain limit the BMP7 activity in flies. Furthermore, unlike Gbb, cleavage-resistant BMP7, although non-functional in rescue assays, activates the downstream signaling cascade and thus retains some functionality. Our data show that cleavage requirements evolve rapidly, supporting the notion that changes in post-translational processing are used to create functional diversity between BMPs within and between species. PMID:22199351

Effect of Finite Computational Domain on Turbulence Scaling Law in Both Physical and Spectral Spaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hou, Thomas Y.; Wu, Xiao-Hui; Chen, Shiyi; Zhou, Ye

1998-01-01

The well-known translation between the power law of energy spectrum and that of the correlation function or the second order structure function has been widely used in analyzing random data. Here, we show that the translation is valid only in proper scaling regimes. The regimes of valid translation are different for the correlation function and the structure function. Indeed, they do not overlap. Furthermore, in practice, the power laws exist only for a finite range of scales. We show that this finite range makes the translation inexact even in the proper scaling regime. The error depends on the scaling exponent. The current findings are applicable to data analysis in fluid turbulence and other stochastic systems.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pribram-Jones, A.; Burke, K.

We show that the adiabatic connection formula of ground-state density functional theory relates the correlation energy to a coupling-constant integral over a purely potential contribution, and is widely used to understand and improve approximations. The corresponding formula for thermal density functional theory is cast as an integral over temperatures instead, ranging upward from the system's physical temperature. We also show how to relate different correlation components to each other, either in terms of temperature or coupling-constant integrations. Lastly, we illustrate our results on the uniform electron gas.

Effects of magnets on pigeon homing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keeton, W. T.

1972-01-01

The function of magnets in the navigation system of homing pigeons is investigated. Only experienced pigeons with magnets or brass bars were studied. Data show that on sunny days, pigeons with the magnets had some difficulty in orientation while those with brass bars had no problems. The same experiment was repeated on cloudy days. These results show that the magnets did not interfere with orientation. This difference suggests that sun and magnetic cues are used interchangeably, but that both together seldom function.

Preliminary Studies on Differential Expression of Auditory Functional Genes in the Brain After Repeated Blast Exposures

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

exposed mice showed significant injury (Figure). The injury level was more on the medial contra- lateral side of the brain than the ipsilateral side. The...code) JRRD Volume 49, Number 7, 2012Pages 1153–1162Preliminary studies on differential expression of auditory functional genes in the brain after...hearing- related genes in different regions of the brain 6 h after repeated blast exposures in mice. Preliminary data showed that the expres- sion of

Exceptionally tight membrane-binding may explain the key role of the synaptotagmin-7 C 2 A domain in asynchronous neurotransmitter release

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Voleti, Rashmi; Tomchick, Diana R.; Südhof, Thomas C.

Synaptotagmins (Syts) act as Ca2+ sensors in neurotransmitter release by virtue of Ca2+-binding to their two C2 domains, but their mechanisms of action remain unclear. Puzzlingly, Ca2+-binding to the C2B domain appears to dominate Syt1 function in synchronous release, whereas Ca2+-binding to the C2A domain mediates Syt7 function in asynchronous release. Here we show that crystal structures of the Syt7 C2A domain and C2AB region, and analyses of intrinsic Ca2+-binding to the Syt7 C2 domains using isothermal titration calorimetry, did not reveal major differences that could explain functional differentiation between Syt7 and Syt1. However, using liposome titrations under Ca2+ saturatingmore » conditions, we show that the Syt7 C2A domain has a very high membrane affinity and dominates phospholipid binding to Syt7 in the presence or absence of L-α-phosphatidylinositol 4,5-diphosphate (PIP2). For Syt1, the two Ca2+-saturated C2 domains have similar affinities for membranes lacking PIP2, but the C2B domain dominates binding to PIP2-containing membranes. Mutagenesis revealed that the dramatic differences in membrane affinity between the Syt1 and Syt7 C2A domains arise in part from apparently conservative residue substitutions, showing how striking biochemical and functional differences can result from the cumulative effects of subtle residue substitutions. Viewed together, our results suggest that membrane affinity may be a key determinant of the functions of Syt C2 domains in neurotransmitter release.« less

Functional and evolutionary relationships between bacteriorhodopsin and halorhodopsin in the archaebacterium, halobacterium halobium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lanyi, J. K.

1986-01-01

The archaebacteria occupy a unique place in phylogenetic trees constructed from analyses of sequences from key informational macromolecules, and their study continues to yield interesting ideas on the early evolution and divergence of biological forms. It is now known that the halobacteria among these species contain various retinal-proteins, resembling eukaryotic rhodopsins, but with different functions. Two of these pigments, located in the cytoplasmic membranes of the bacteria, are bacteriorhodopsin (a light-driven proton pump) and halorhodopsin (a light-driven chloride pump). Comparison of these systems is expected to reveal structure/function relationships in these simple (primitive?) energy transducing membrane components and evolutionary relationships which had produced the structural features which allow the divergent functions. Findings indicate that very different primary structures are needed for these proteins to accomplish their different functions. Indeed, analysis of partial amino acid sequences from halo-opsin shows already that few if any long segments exist which are homologous to bacterio-opsin. Either these proteins diverged a very long time ago to allow for the observed differences, or the evolutionary clock in the halobacteria runs faster than usual.

Architecture of conference control functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kausar, Nadia; Crowcroft, Jon

1999-11-01

Conference control is an integral part in many-to-many communications that is used to manage and co-ordinate multiple users in conferences. There are different types of conferences which require different types of control. Some of the features of conference control may be user invoked while others are for internal management of a conference. In recent years, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) have standardized two main models of conferencing, each system providing a set of conference control functionalities that are not easily provided in the other one. This paper analyzes the main activities appropriate for different types of conferences and presents an architecture for conference control called GCCP (Generic Conference Control Protocol). GCCP interworks different types of conferencing and provides a set of conference control functions that can be invoked by users directly. As an example of interworking, interoperation of IETF's SIP and ITU's H.323 call control functions have been examined here. This paper shows that a careful analysis of a conferencing architecture can provide a set of control functions essential for any group communication model that can be extensible if needed.

Developmentally distinct MYB genes encode functionally equivalent proteins in Arabidopsis.

PubMed

Lee, M M; Schiefelbein, J

2001-05-01

The duplication and divergence of developmental control genes is thought to have driven morphological diversification during the evolution of multicellular organisms. To examine the molecular basis of this process, we analyzed the functional relationship between two paralogous MYB transcription factor genes, WEREWOLF (WER) and GLABROUS1 (GL1), in Arabidopsis. The WER and GL1 genes specify distinct cell types and exhibit non-overlapping expression patterns during Arabidopsis development. Nevertheless, reciprocal complementation experiments with a series of gene fusions showed that WER and GL1 encode functionally equivalent proteins, and their unique roles in plant development are entirely due to differences in their cis-regulatory sequences. Similar experiments with a distantly related MYB gene (MYB2) showed that its product cannot functionally substitute for WER or GL1. Furthermore, an analysis of the WER and GL1 proteins shows that conserved sequences correspond to specific functional domains. These results provide new insights into the evolution of the MYB gene family in Arabidopsis, and, more generally, they demonstrate that novel developmental gene function may arise solely by the modification of cis-regulatory sequences.

Transposon variation by order during allopolyploidisation between Brassica oleracea and Brassica rapa.

PubMed

An, Z; Tang, Z; Ma, B; Mason, A S; Guo, Y; Yin, J; Gao, C; Wei, L; Li, J; Fu, D

2014-07-01

Although many studies have shown that transposable element (TE) activation is induced by hybridisation and polyploidisation in plants, much less is known on how different types of TE respond to hybridisation, and the impact of TE-associated sequences on gene function. We investigated the frequency and regularity of putative transposon activation for different types of TE, and determined the impact of TE-associated sequence variation on the genome during allopolyploidisation. We designed different types of TE primers and adopted the Inter-Retrotransposon Amplified Polymorphism (IRAP) method to detect variation in TE-associated sequences during the process of allopolyploidisation between Brassica rapa (AA) and Brassica oleracea (CC), and in successive generations of self-pollinated progeny. In addition, fragments with TE insertions were used to perform Blast2GO analysis to characterise the putative functions of the fragments with TE insertions. Ninety-two primers amplifying 548 loci were used to detect variation in sequences associated with four different orders of TE sequences. TEs could be classed in ascending frequency into LTR-REs, TIRs, LINEs, SINEs and unknown TEs. The frequency of novel variation (putative activation) detected for the four orders of TEs was highest from the F1 to F2 generations, and lowest from the F2 to F3 generations. Functional annotation of sequences with TE insertions showed that genes with TE insertions were mainly involved in metabolic processes and binding, and preferentially functioned in organelles. TE variation in our study severely disturbed the genetic compositions of the different generations, resulting in inconsistencies in genetic clustering. Different types of TE showed different patterns of variation during the process of allopolyploidisation. © 2013 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Mapping hemispheric symmetries, relative asymmetries, and absolute asymmetries underlying the auditory laterality effect.

PubMed

Westerhausen, René; Kompus, Kristiina; Hugdahl, Kenneth

2014-01-01

Functional hemispheric differences for speech and language processing have been traditionally studied by using verbal dichotic-listening paradigms. The commonly observed right-ear preference for the report of dichotically presented syllables is taken to reflect the left hemispheric dominance for speech processing. However, the results of recent functional imaging studies also show that both hemispheres - not only the left - are engaged by dichotic listening, suggesting a more complex relationship between behavioral laterality and functional hemispheric activation asymmetries. In order to more closely examine the hemispheric differences underlying dichotic-listening performance, we report an analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of 104 right-handed subjects, for the first time combining an interhemispheric difference and conjunction analysis. This approach allowed for a distinction of homotopic brain regions which showed symmetrical (i.e., brain region significantly activated in both hemispheres and no activation difference between the hemispheres), relative asymmetrical (i.e., activated in both hemispheres but significantly stronger in one than the other hemisphere), and absolute asymmetrical activation patterns (i.e., activated only in one hemisphere and this activation is significantly stronger than in the other hemisphere). Symmetrical activation was found in large clusters encompassing temporal, parietal, inferior frontal, and medial superior frontal regions. Relative and absolute left-ward asymmetries were found in the posterior superior temporal gyrus, located adjacent to symmetrically activated areas, and creating a lateral-medial gradient from symmetrical towards absolute asymmetrical activation within the peri-Sylvian region. Absolute leftward asymmetry was also found in the post-central and medial superior frontal gyri, while rightward asymmetries were found in middle temporal and middle frontal gyri. We conclude that dichotic listening engages a bihemispheric cortical network, showing a symmetrical and mostly leftward asymmetrical pattern. The here obtained functional (a)symmetry map might serve as a basis for future studies which - by studying the relevance of the here identified regions - clarify the relationship between behavioral laterality measures and hemispheric asymmetry. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Study of the effect of occupational exposure to glyphosate on hepatorenal function].

PubMed

Zhang, F; Pan, L P; Ding, E M; Ge, Q J; Zhang, Z H; Xu, J N; Zhang, L; Zhu, B L

2017-07-06

Objective: To explore the effect of occupational exposure to glyphosate on hepatorenal function. Methods: 526 workers who were occupationally exposed to glyphosate from 5 glyphosate-producing factories were selected as cases; and another 442 administrative staffs who were not exposed to glyphosate were selected as controls from April to November, 2014. All the subjects accepted occupational health examination. The concentration level of glyphosate in the air of workshop was detected and the time weighted average concentration (TWA) was calculated. And analyze the difference of hepatorenal fuction between case group and control group. Result: The age of the subjects in the case and control groups were separately (35.6±10.3), (34.3±9.7) years old, with the length of working for (6.5±5.7), (7.7±6.8) years. The TWA of glyphosate in the case group was between <0.03-48.91 mg/m(3), with the geometric mean at 3.78 mg/m(3). The overall rates of abnormal hepatic and renal function in the case group were 14.4% (76 cases) and 16.2% (85 cases), respectively; while those were 5.0% (22 cases) and 4.8% (21 cases), respectively in control group, and the difference showed statistical significance ( P <0.05). When TWA reached <0.03-6.00 mg/m(3), the difference of hepatorenal fuction between case group and control group showed statistical significance, and the rates of abnormal hepatic and renal function was 8.0% (36/447) and 9.8% (44/447) respectively in case group. When cumulative exposure level reached <1.56-68.64 g, the difference of hepatorenal fuction between case group and control group showed statistical significance, and the rates increased to 9.2% (37/404) and 10.4% (42/404) respectively in group of cases. Conclusion: Glyphosate can affect the hepatic and renal function among occupational exposure population, and there was an association between the effect and the exposure dose.

A Single Optimum Degree of Hemispheric Specialisation in Two Tasks, in Two UK National Birth Cohorts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leask, S. J.; Crow, T. J.

2006-01-01

How "differences" between the two sides of the brain (or "laterality") relate to level of function are important components of theories of the origin and purpose of hemispheric asymmetry, although different measures show different relationships, and this heterogeneity makes discerning any underlying relationships a difficult…

The Zernike expansion--an example of a merit function for 2D/3D registration based on orthogonal functions.

PubMed

Dong, Shuo; Kettenbach, Joachim; Hinterleitner, Isabella; Bergmann, Helmar; Birkfellner, Wolfgang

2008-01-01

Current merit functions for 2D/3D registration usually rely on comparing pixels or small regions of images using some sort of statistical measure. Problems connected to this paradigm the sometimes problematic behaviour of the method if noise or artefacts (for instance a guide wire) are present on the projective image. We present a merit function for 2D/3D registration which utilizes the decomposition of the X-ray and the DRR under comparison into orthogonal Zernike moments; the quality of the match is assessed by an iterative comparison of expansion coefficients. Results in a imaging study on a physical phantom show that--compared to standard cross--correlation the Zernike moment based merit function shows better robustness if histogram content in images under comparison is different, and that time expenses are comparable if the merit function is constructed out of a few significant moments only.

Frontal lobe function in chess players.

PubMed

Nejati, Majid; Nejati, Vahid

2012-01-01

Chess is considered as a cognitive game because of severe engagement of the mental resources during playing. The purpose of this study is evaluation of frontal lobe function of chess players with matched non-players. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) data showed no difference between the player and non-player groups in preservation error and completed categories but surprisingly showed significantly lower grade of the player group in correct response. Our data reveal that chess players don't have any preference in any stage of Stroop test. Chess players don't have any preference in selective attention, inhibition and executive cognitive function. Chess players' have lower shifting abilities than non-players.

[Research on Time-frequency Characteristics of Magneto-acoustic Signal of Different Thickness Medium Based on Wave Summing Method].

PubMed

Zhang, Shunqi; Yin, Tao; Ma, Ren; Liu, Zhipeng

2015-08-01

Functional imaging method of biological electrical characteristics based on magneto-acoustic effect gives valuable information of tissue in early tumor diagnosis, therein time and frequency characteristics analysis of magneto-acoustic signal is important in image reconstruction. This paper proposes wave summing method based on Green function solution for acoustic source of magneto-acoustic effect. Simulations and analysis under quasi 1D transmission condition are carried out to time and frequency characteristics of magneto-acoustic signal of models with different thickness. Simulation results of magneto-acoustic signal were verified through experiments. Results of the simulation with different thickness showed that time-frequency characteristics of magneto-acoustic signal reflected thickness of sample. Thin sample, which is less than one wavelength of pulse, and thick sample, which is larger than one wavelength, showed different summed waveform and frequency characteristics, due to difference of summing thickness. Experimental results verified theoretical analysis and simulation results. This research has laid a foundation for acoustic source and conductivity reconstruction to the medium with different thickness in magneto-acoustic imaging.

Factors affecting cognitive function according to gender in community-dwelling elderly individuals.

PubMed

Kim, Miwon; Park, Jeong-Mo

2017-01-01

This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the cognitive function of elderly people in a community by gender. We obtained 4,878 secondary data of people aged ≥65 years in 2016 at a dementia prevention center in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon. Data were obtained through Mini-Mental Status Examination optimized for screening dementia and a questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and hierarchical regression. There were significant differences in cognitive function according to gender, and the differences were significant even when age was controlled, but gender differences disappeared when education was controlled. Age, education, social activities, number of comorbid diseases, and alcohol drinking affected cognitive function through interaction with gender, but interaction with gender disappeared when education was controlled. Regression analysis showed that depression, cohabitant, social activities etc., had a significant impact on both men and women under controlled education and age. In men, the effect of social activities was greater than that of women, and hyperlipidemia had the effect only in women. The differences in gender-related cognitive functions were due to differences in gender education period. The period of education is considered to have a great influence on cognitive function in relation to the economic level, occupation, and social activity.

Factors affecting cognitive function according to gender in community-dwelling elderly individuals

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the cognitive function of elderly people in a community by gender. METHODS We obtained 4,878 secondary data of people aged ≥65 years in 2016 at a dementia prevention center in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon. Data were obtained through Mini-Mental Status Examination optimized for screening dementia and a questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and hierarchical regression. RESULTS There were significant differences in cognitive function according to gender, and the differences were significant even when age was controlled, but gender differences disappeared when education was controlled. Age, education, social activities, number of comorbid diseases, and alcohol drinking affected cognitive function through interaction with gender, but interaction with gender disappeared when education was controlled. Regression analysis showed that depression, cohabitant, social activities etc., had a significant impact on both men and women under controlled education and age. In men, the effect of social activities was greater than that of women, and hyperlipidemia had the effect only in women. CONCLUSIONS The differences in gender-related cognitive functions were due to differences in gender education period. The period of education is considered to have a great influence on cognitive function in relation to the economic level, occupation, and social activity. PMID:29141399

An Investigation of the Differences and Similarities between Generated Small-World Networks for Right- and Left-Hand Motor Imageries.

PubMed

Zhang, Jiang; Li, Yuyao; Chen, Huafu; Ding, Jurong; Yuan, Zhen

2016-11-04

In this study, small-world network analysis was performed to identify the similarities and differences between functional brain networks for right- and left-hand motor imageries (MIs). First, Pearson correlation coefficients among the nodes within the functional brain networks from healthy subjects were calculated. Then, small-world network indicators, including the clustering coefficient, the average path length, the global efficiency, the local efficiency, the average node degree, and the small-world index, were generated for the functional brain networks during both right- and left-hand MIs. We identified large differences in the small-world network indicators between the functional networks during MI and in the random networks. More importantly, the functional brain networks underlying the right- and left-hand MIs exhibited similar small-world properties in terms of the clustering coefficient, the average path length, the global efficiency, and the local efficiency. By contrast, the right- and left-hand MI brain networks showed differences in small-world characteristics, including indicators such as the average node degree and the small-world index. Interestingly, our findings also suggested that the differences in the activity intensity and range, the average node degree, and the small-world index of brain networks between the right- and left-hand MIs were associated with the asymmetry of brain functions.

Functionalization of alkyne-terminated thermally hydrocarbonized porous silicon nanoparticles with targeting peptides and antifouling polymers: effect on the human plasma protein adsorption.

PubMed

Wang, Chang-Fang; Mäkilä, Ermei M; Bonduelle, Colin; Rytkönen, Jussi; Raula, Janne; Almeida, Sérgio; Närvänen, Ale; Salonen, Jarno J; Lecommandoux, Sebastien; Hirvonen, Jouni T; Santos, Hélder A

2015-01-28

Porous silicon (PSi) nanomaterials combine a high drug loading capacity and tunable surface chemistry with various surface modifications to meet the requirements for biomedical applications. In this work, alkyne-terminated thermally hydrocarbonized porous silicon (THCPSi) nanoparticles were fabricated and postmodified using five bioactive molecules (targeting peptides and antifouling polymers) via a single-step click chemistry to modulate the bioactivity of the THCPSi nanoparticles, such as enhancing the cellular uptake and reducing the plasma protein association. The size of the nanoparticles after modification was increased from 176 to 180-220 nm. Dextran 40 kDa modified THCPSi nanoparticles showed the highest stability in aqueous buffer. Both peptide- and polymer-functionalized THCPSi nanoparticles showed an extensive cellular uptake which was dependent on the functionalized moieties presented on the surface of the nanoparticles. The plasma protein adsorption study showed that the surface modification with different peptides or polymers induced different protein association profiles. Dextran 40 kDa functionalized THCPSi nanoparticles presented the least protein association. Overall, these results demonstrate that the "click" conjugation of the biomolecules onto the alkyne-terminated THCPSi nanoparticles is a versatile and simple approach to modulate the surface chemistry, which has high potential for biomedical applications.

Exploring the Relationship between Physiological Measures of Cochlear and Brainstem Function

PubMed Central

Dhar, S.; Abel, R.; Hornickel, J.; Nicol, T.; Skoe, E.; Zhao, W.; Kraus, N.

2009-01-01

Objective Otoacoustic emissions and the speech-evoked auditory brainstem response are objective indices of peripheral auditory physiology and are used clinically for assessing hearing function. While each measure has been extensively explored, their interdependence and the relationships between them remain relatively unexplored. Methods Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) and speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses (sABR) were recorded from 28 normal-hearing adults. Through correlational analyses, DPOAE characteristics were compared to measures of sABR timing and frequency encoding. Data were organized into two DPOAE (Strength and Structure) and five brainstem (Onset, Spectrotemporal, Harmonics, Envelope Boundary, Pitch) composite measures. Results DPOAE Strength shows significant relationships with sABR Spectrotemporal and Harmonics measures. DPOAE Structure shows significant relationships with sABR Envelope Boundary. Neither DPOAE Strength nor Structure is related to sABR Pitch. Conclusions The results of the present study show that certain aspects of the speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses are related to, or covary with, cochlear function as measured by distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Significance These results form a foundation for future work in clinical populations. Analyzing cochlear and brainstem function in parallel in different clinical populations will provide a more sensitive clinical battery for identifying the locus of different disorders (e.g., language based learning impairments, hearing impairment). PMID:19346159

[Effects of acupuncture at left and right Hegu (LI 4) for cerebral function laterality].

PubMed

Wang, Linying; Xu, Chunsheng; Zhu, Yifang; Li, Chuanfu; Yang, Jun

2015-08-01

To explore the cerebral function laterality of acupuncture at left and right Hegu (LI 4) by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and provide objective evidences for side selection of Hegu (LI 4) in the clinical application. Eighty healthy volunteers were randomly divided into a left-acupoint group and a right-acupoint group, and they were treated with acupuncture at left Hegu (LI 4) and right Hegu (LI 4) respectively. After the arrival of qi, the task-state fMRI data in both groups was collected, and analysis of functional neuroimages (AFNI) software was used to perform intra-group and between-group comparisons. After acupuncture, acupuncture feelings were recorded and MGH acupuncture sensation scale (MASS) was recorded. The difference of MASS between the two groups was not significant (P>0. 05). The result of left-acupoint group showed an increased signal on right cerebral hemisphere, while the right-acupoint group showed extensive signal changes in both cerebral hemispheres. The analysis between left-acupoint group and retroflex right-acupoint group showed differences in brain areas. The central effect of acupuncture at left and right Hegu (LI 4) is dissymmetry, indicating right hemisphere laterality. The right lobus insularis and cingulate gyrus may be the key regions in the acupuncture at Hegu (LI 4).

Individual species affect plant traits structure in their surroundings: evidence of functional mechanisms of assembly.

PubMed

Chacón-Labella, Julia; de la Cruz, Marcelino; Pescador, David S; Escudero, Adrián

2016-04-01

Evaluating community assembly through the use of functional traits is a promising tool for testing predictions arising from Niche and Coexistence theories. Although interactions among neighboring species and their inter-specific differences are known drivers of coexistence with a strong spatial signal, assessing the role of individual species on the functional structure of the community at different spatial scales remains a challenge. Here, we ask whether individual species exert a measurable effect on the spatial organization of different functional traits in local assemblages. We first propose and compute two functions that describe different aspects of functional trait organization around individual species at multiple scales: individual weighted mean area relationship and individual functional diversity area relationship. Secondly, we develop a conceptual model on the relationship and simultaneous variation of these two metrics, providing five alternative scenarios in response to the ability of some target species to modify its neighbor environment and the possible assembly mechanisms involved. Our results show that some species influence the spatial structure of specific functional traits, but their effects were always restricted to the finest spatial scales. In the basis of our conceptual model, the observed patterns point to two main mechanisms driving the functional structure of the community at the fine scale, "biotic" filtering meditated by individual species and resource partitioning driven by indirect facilitation rather than by competitive mechanisms.

Defining functional groups based on running kinematics using Self-Organizing Maps and Support Vector Machines.

PubMed

Hoerzer, Stefan; von Tscharner, Vinzenz; Jacob, Christian; Nigg, Benno M

2015-07-16

A functional group is a collection of individuals who react in a similar way to a specific intervention/product such as a sport shoe. Matching footwear features to a functional group can possibly enhance footwear-related comfort, improve running performance, and decrease the risk of movement-related injuries. To match footwear features to a functional group, one has to first define the different groups using their distinctive movement patterns. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to propose and apply a methodological approach to define functional groups with different movement patterns using Self-Organizing Maps and Support Vector Machines. Further study objectives were to identify differences in age, gender and footwear-related comfort preferences between the functional groups. Kinematic data and subjective comfort preferences of 88 subjects (16-76 years; 45 m/43 f) were analysed. Eight functional groups with distinctive movement patterns were defined. The findings revealed that most of the groups differed in age or gender. Certain functional groups differed in their comfort preferences and, therefore, had group-specific footwear requirements to enhance footwear-related comfort. Some of the groups, which had group-specific footwear requirements, did not show any differences in age or gender. This is important because when defining functional groups simply using common grouping criteria like age or gender, certain functional groups with group-specific movement patterns and footwear requirements might not be detected. This emphasises the power of the proposed pattern recognition approach to automatically define groups by their distinctive movement patterns in order to be able to address their group-specific product requirements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preference weights for cost-outcome analyses of schizophrenia treatments: comparison of four stakeholder groups.

PubMed

Shumway, Martha

2003-01-01

This study quantified preferences for schizophrenia outcomes in four stakeholder groups, tested the hypotheses that outcomes differ in importance and stakeholder groups have different preferences, and produced preference weights for seven outcomes for cost-outcome analysis. Fifty patients with schizophrenia, 50 clinicians, 41 family members of patients, and 50 members of the general public rated 16 schizophrenia-related health states, yielding preference weights for seven outcomes: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, extrapyramidal symptoms, tardive dyskinesia, social function, independent living, and vocational function. Outcomes differed in importance (F = 23.4, p < 0.01). All stakeholders rated positive symptoms and social functioning as more important than negative and extrapyramidal symptoms. Stakeholder groups had different preferences (F = 1.9, p = 0.01). Patients rated extrapyramidal symptoms as more important than did other groups (p < 0.01); clinicians rated social functioning as more important than did patients or family members (p < 0.05); and clinicians and family members rated vocational functioning as more important than did patients and the general public (p < 0.05). Results show that schizophrenia outcomes are not equally important and that stakeholder groups value outcomes differently, demonstrating the importance of incorporating stakeholder preferences in cost-outcome analyses and other treatment comparisons.

On the Reliability of Individual Brain Activity Networks.

PubMed

Cassidy, Ben; Bowman, F DuBois; Rae, Caroline; Solo, Victor

2018-02-01

There is intense interest in fMRI research on whole-brain functional connectivity, and however, two fundamental issues are still unresolved: the impact of spatiotemporal data resolution (spatial parcellation and temporal sampling) and the impact of the network construction method on the reliability of functional brain networks. In particular, the impact of spatiotemporal data resolution on the resulting connectivity findings has not been sufficiently investigated. In fact, a number of studies have already observed that functional networks often give different conclusions across different parcellation scales. If the interpretations from functional networks are inconsistent across spatiotemporal scales, then the whole validity of the functional network paradigm is called into question. This paper investigates the consistency of resting state network structure when using different temporal sampling or spatial parcellation, or different methods for constructing the networks. To pursue this, we develop a novel network comparison framework based on persistent homology from a topological data analysis. We use the new network comparison tools to characterize the spatial and temporal scales under which consistent functional networks can be constructed. The methods are illustrated on Human Connectome Project data, showing that the DISCOH 2 network construction method outperforms other approaches at most data spatiotemporal resolutions.

From structure to function, via dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stetter, O.; Soriano, J.; Geisel, T.; Battaglia, D.

2013-01-01

Neurons in the brain are wired into a synaptic network that spans multiple scales, from local circuits within cortical columns to fiber tracts interconnecting distant areas. However, brain function require the dynamic control of inter-circuit interactions on time-scales faster than synaptic changes. In particular, strength and direction of causal influences between neural populations (described by the so-called directed functional connectivity) must be reconfigurable even when the underlying structural connectivity is fixed. Such directed functional influences can be quantified resorting to causal analysis of time-series based on tools like Granger Causality or Transfer Entropy. The ability to quickly reorganize inter-areal interactions is a chief requirement for performance in a changing natural environment. But how can manifold functional networks stem "on demand" from an essentially fixed structure? We explore the hypothesis that the self-organization of neuronal synchronous activity underlies the control of brain functional connectivity. Based on simulated and real recordings of critical neuronal cultures in vitro, as well as on mean-field and spiking network models of interacting brain areas, we have found that "function follows dynamics", rather than structure. Different dynamic states of a same structural network, characterized by different synchronization properties, are indeed associated to different functional digraphs (functional multiplicity). We also highlight the crucial role of dynamics in establishing a structure-to-function link, by showing that whenever different structural topologies lead to similar dynamical states, than the associated functional connectivities are also very similar (structural degeneracy).

Total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and cross-cultural consumer rejection threshold in white and red wines functionally enhanced with catechin-rich extracts.

PubMed

Yoo, Yung J; Saliba, Anthony J; Prenzler, Paul D; Ryan, Danielle

2012-01-11

White and red wines spiked with catechin-rich green tea extract and grape seed extract were assessed for phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and cross-cultural consumer rejection thresholds in relation to wine as a functional food. Health functionality is an important factor in functional foods, and spiking pure compounds or plant extracts is an effective method to increase or control functionality. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were measured in wines spiked to different extract concentrations, namely, control and 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg/L, to confirm the dose-response curves in both white and red wines. Consumer rejection thresholds (CRTs) were established for spiked wines in a Korean and in an Australian population. Our results showed that the green tea extract and grape seed extract increased the antioxidant activity dose dependently, and the CRTs varied considerably between the Korean and the Australian groups, with Koreans preferring wines spiked with green tea extract and Australians showing a preference for wines spiked with grape seed extract. These results have implications for producing wine products that are enhanced in phenolic compounds and targeted to different cultural groups.

Reduced integration and improved segregation of functional brain networks in Alzheimer’s disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kabbara, A.; Eid, H.; El Falou, W.; Khalil, M.; Wendling, F.; Hassan, M.

2018-04-01

Objective. Emerging evidence shows that cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are associated with disruptions in brain functional connectivity. Thus, the identification of alterations in AD functional networks has become a topic of increasing interest. However, to what extent AD induces disruption of the balance of local and global information processing in the human brain remains elusive. The main objective of this study is to explore the dynamic topological changes of AD networks in terms of brain network segregation and integration. Approach. We used electroencephalography (EEG) data recorded from 20 participants (10 AD patients and 10 healthy controls) during resting state. Functional brain networks were reconstructed using EEG source connectivity computed in different frequency bands. Graph theoretical analyses were performed assess differences between both groups. Main results. Results revealed that AD networks, compared to networks of age-matched healthy controls, are characterized by lower global information processing (integration) and higher local information processing (segregation). Results showed also significant correlation between the alterations in the AD patients’ functional brain networks and their cognitive scores. Significance. These findings may contribute to the development of EEG network-based test that could strengthen results obtained from currently-used neurophysiological tests in neurodegenerative diseases.

Reduced integration and improved segregation of functional brain networks in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Kabbara, A; Eid, H; El Falou, W; Khalil, M; Wendling, F; Hassan, M

2018-04-01

Emerging evidence shows that cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with disruptions in brain functional connectivity. Thus, the identification of alterations in AD functional networks has become a topic of increasing interest. However, to what extent AD induces disruption of the balance of local and global information processing in the human brain remains elusive. The main objective of this study is to explore the dynamic topological changes of AD networks in terms of brain network segregation and integration. We used electroencephalography (EEG) data recorded from 20 participants (10 AD patients and 10 healthy controls) during resting state. Functional brain networks were reconstructed using EEG source connectivity computed in different frequency bands. Graph theoretical analyses were performed assess differences between both groups. Results revealed that AD networks, compared to networks of age-matched healthy controls, are characterized by lower global information processing (integration) and higher local information processing (segregation). Results showed also significant correlation between the alterations in the AD patients' functional brain networks and their cognitive scores. These findings may contribute to the development of EEG network-based test that could strengthen results obtained from currently-used neurophysiological tests in neurodegenerative diseases.

Comparative Study of Exchange-Correlation Functional and Potential for Evaluating Thermoelectric Transport Properties in d0 Perovskite Oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohkubo, Isao; Mori, Takao

2017-07-01

The influence of two different types of exchange-correlation functional/potential, namely, the generalized gradient approximation Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (GGA-PBE) functional and the modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ) potential, on the thermoelectric transport properties of d0 perovskite oxides (SrTiO3 and KTaO3) was investigated. The reduction of band dispersion induced by the mBJ scheme allows the improved prediction of band gap values by thelocal density approximation (LDA) and GGA, which increases the resolution of the increases in the density of states (DOS), carrier concentration, and effective mass near the conduction band edge. A comparison of the experimental effective mass values of d0 perovskite oxides shows that the effective mass values provided by the mBJ potential are similar to those provided by the GGA-PBE functional. Comparative analysis of the data obtained from Boltzmann theory calculations using the electronic structures determined with the GGA-PBE functional and the mBJ potential shows a difference in the transport coefficients owing to the increases in the DOS, carrier concentration, and effective mass induced by the mBJ scheme.

Photoinduced work function changes by isomerization of a densely packed azobenzene-based SAM on Au: a joint experimental and theoretical study.

PubMed

Crivillers, N; Liscio, A; Di Stasio, F; Van Dyck, C; Osella, S; Cornil, D; Mian, S; Lazzerini, G M; Fenwick, O; Orgiu, E; Reinders, F; Braun, S; Fahlman, M; Mayor, M; Cornil, J; Palermo, V; Cacialli, F; Samorì, P

2011-08-28

Responsive monolayers are key building blocks for future applications in organic and molecular electronics in particular because they hold potential for tuning the physico-chemical properties of interfaces, including their energetics. Here we study a photochromic SAM based on a conjugated azobenzene derivative and its influence on the gold work function (Φ(Au)) when chemisorbed on its surface. In particular we show that the Φ(Au) can be modulated with external stimuli by controlling the azobenzene trans/cis isomerization process. This phenomenon is characterized experimentally by four different techniques, kelvin probe, kelvin probe force microscopy, electroabsorption spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The use of different techniques implies exposing the SAM to different measurement conditions and different preparation methods, which, remarkably, do not alter the observed work function change (Φ(trans)-Φ(cis)). Theoretical calculations provided a complementary insight crucial to attain a deeper knowledge on the origin of the work function photo-modulation.

Functional traits and structural controls on the relationship between photosynthetic CO2 uptake and sun-induced fluorescence in a Mediterranean grassland under different nutrient availability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Migliavacca, Mirco

2016-04-01

Recent studies have shown how human induced nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) imbalances affect essential ecosystem processes, and might be particularly important in water-limited ecosystems. Hyperspectral information can be used to directly infer nutrient-induced variation in structural and functional changes of vegetation under different nutrient availability. However, several uncertainties still hamper the direct link between photosynthetic CO2 uptake (gross primary productivity, GPP) and hyperspectral reflectance. Sun-induced fluorescence (SIF) provides a new non-invasive measurement approach that has the potential to quantify dynamic changes in light use efficiency and photosynthetic CO2 uptake. In this contribution we will present an experiment conducted in a Mediterranean grassland, where 16 plots of 8x8 meters were manipulated by adding nutrient (N, P, and NP). Almost simultaneous estimates of canopy scale GPP and SIF were conducted with transparent transient-state canopy chambers and high resolution spectrometers, respectively. We investigated the response of GPP and SIF to different nutrient availability and plant stoichiometry. The second objective was to identify how structural (LAI, leaf angle distribution, and biodiversity) and canopy biochemical properties (e.g. N and chlorophyll content - Chl) control the functional relationship between GPP and SIF. To test the different hypotheses the SCOPE radiative transfer model was used. We ran a factorial experiment with SCOPE to disentangle the main drivers (structure vs biochemistry) of the relationship GPP-SIF. The results showed significant differences in GPP values between N and without N addition plots. We also found that vegetation indices sensitive to pigment variations and physiology (such as photochemical reflectance index PRI) and SIF showed differences between different treatments. SCOPE showed very good agreement with the observed data (R2=0.71). The observed variability in SIF was mainly related to changes in functional traits of the vegetation (changes in N and P content and Chl). However, beside changes in functional traits, changes in canopy structure (and in particular variation in plant forms abundance after fertilization) controlled the GPP-SIF relationship. According to these results, plant N/P stoichiometry and structure should be considered when modelling GPP assuming a linear relationship with SIF at grasslands sites.

Neural activation to emotional faces in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Weng, Shih-Jen; Carrasco, Melisa; Swartz, Johnna R; Wiggins, Jillian Lee; Kurapati, Nikhil; Liberzon, Israel; Risi, Susan; Lord, Catherine; Monk, Christopher S

2011-03-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) involve a core deficit in social functioning and impairments in the ability to recognize face emotions. In an emotional faces task designed to constrain group differences in attention, the present study used functional MRI to characterize activation in the amygdala, ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC), and striatum, three structures involved in socio-emotional processing in adolescents with ASD. Twenty-two adolescents with ASD and 20 healthy adolescents viewed facial expressions (happy, fearful, sad and neutral) that were briefly presented (250 ms) during functional MRI acquisition. To monitor attention, subjects pressed a button to identify the gender of each face. The ASD group showed greater activation to the faces relative to the control group in the amygdala, vPFC and striatum. Follow-up analyses indicated that the ASD relative to control group showed greater activation in the amygdala, vPFC and striatum (p < .05 small volume corrected), particularly to sad faces. Moreover, in the ASD group, there was a negative correlation between developmental variables (age and pubertal status) and mean activation from the whole bilateral amygdala; younger adolescents showed greater activation than older adolescents. There were no group differences in accuracy or reaction time in the gender identification task. When group differences in attention to facial expressions were limited, adolescents with ASD showed greater activation in structures involved in socio-emotional processing. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

JAGGED Controls Arabidopsis Petal Growth and Shape by Interacting with a Divergent Polarity Field

PubMed Central

Sauret-Güeto, Susanna; Schiessl, Katharina; Bangham, Andrew; Sablowski, Robert; Coen, Enrico

2013-01-01

A flowering plant generates many different organs such as leaves, petals, and stamens, each with a particular function and shape. These types of organ are thought to represent variations on a common underlying developmental program. However, it is unclear how this program is modulated under different selective constraints to generate the diversity of forms observed. Here we address this problem by analysing the development of Arabidopsis petals and comparing the results to models of leaf development. We show that petal development involves a divergent polarity field with growth rates perpendicular to local polarity increasing towards the distal end of the petal. The hypothesis is supported by the observed pattern of clones induced at various stages of development and by analysis of polarity markers, which show a divergent pattern. We also show that JAGGED (JAG) has a key role in promoting distal enhancement of growth rates and influences the extent of the divergent polarity field. Furthermore, we reveal links between the polarity field and auxin function: auxin-responsive markers such as DR5 have a broader distribution along the distal petal margin, consistent with the broad distal organiser of polarity, and PETAL LOSS (PTL), which has been implicated in the control of auxin dynamics during petal initiation, is directly repressed by JAG. By comparing these results with those from studies on leaf development, we show how simple modifications of an underlying developmental system may generate distinct forms, providing flexibility for the evolution of different organ functions. PMID:23653565

Versatility of acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetases

DOE PAGES

Beld, Joris; Finzel, Kara; Burkart, Michael D.

2014-10-09

The acyl carrier protein (ACP) requires posttranslational modification with a 4'-phosphopantetheine arm for activity, and this thiol-terminated modification carries cargo between enzymes in ACP-dependent metabolic pathways. In this paper, we show that acyl-ACP synthetases (AasSs) from different organisms are able to load even, odd, and unnatural fatty acids onto E. coli ACP in vitro. Vibrio harveyi AasS not only shows promiscuity for the acid substrate, but also is active upon various alternate carrier proteins. AasS activity also extends to functional activation in living organisms. We show that exogenously supplied carboxylic acids are loaded onto ACP and extended by the E.more » coli fatty acid synthase, including unnatural fatty acid analogs. These analogs are further integrated into cellular lipids. Finally, in vitro characterization of four different adenylate-forming enzymes allowed us to disambiguate CoA-ligases and AasSs, and further in vivo studies show the potential for functional application in other organisms.« less

Soil-borne microbial functional structure across different land uses.

PubMed

Kuramae, Eiko E; Zhou, Jizhong Z; Kowalchuk, George A; van Veen, Johannes A

2014-01-01

Land use change alters the structure and composition of microbial communities. However, the links between environmental factors and microbial functions are not well understood. Here we interrogated the functional structure of soil microbial communities across different land uses. In a multivariate regression tree analysis of soil physicochemical properties and genes detected by functional microarrays, the main factor that explained the different microbial community functional structures was C : N ratio. C : N ratio showed a significant positive correlation with clay and soil pH. Fields with low C : N ratio had an overrepresentation of genes for carbon degradation, carbon fixation, metal reductase, and organic remediation categories, while fields with high C : N ratio had an overrepresentation of genes encoding dissimilatory sulfate reductase, methane oxidation, nitrification, and nitrogen fixation. The most abundant genes related to carbon degradation comprised bacterial and fungal cellulases; bacterial and fungal chitinases; fungal laccases; and bacterial, fungal, and oomycete polygalacturonases. The high number of genes related to organic remediation was probably driven by high phosphate content, while the high number of genes for nitrification was probably explained by high total nitrogen content. The functional gene diversity found in different soils did not group the sites accordingly to land management. Rather, the soil factors, C : N ratio, phosphate, and total N, were the main factors driving the differences in functional genes across the fields examined.

Preoperative physiotherapy and short-term functional outcomes of primary total knee arthroplasty

PubMed Central

Ismail, Mohd Shukry Mat Eil @; Sharifudin, Mohd Ariff; Shokri, Amran Ahmed; Rahman, Shaifuzain Ab

2016-01-01

INTRODUCTION Physiotherapy is an important part of rehabilitation following arthroplasty, but the impact of preoperative physiotherapy on functional outcomes is still being studied. This randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of preoperative physiotherapy on the short-term functional outcomes of primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS 50 patients with primary knee osteoarthritis who underwent unilateral primary TKA were randomised into two groups: the physiotherapy group (n = 24), whose patients performed physical exercises for six weeks immediately prior to surgery, and the nonphysiotherapy group (n = 26). All patients went through a similar physiotherapy regime in the postoperative rehabilitation period. Functional outcome assessment using the algofunctional Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) scale and range of motion (ROM) evaluation was performed preoperatively, and postoperatively at six weeks and three months. RESULTS Both groups showed a significant difference in all algofunctional KOOS subscales (p < 0.001). The mean score difference at six weeks and three months was not significant in the sports and recreational activities subscale for both groups (p > 0.05). Significant differences were observed in the time-versus-treatment analysis between groups for the symptoms (p = 0.003) and activities of daily living (p = 0.025) subscales. No significant difference in ROM was found when comparing preoperative measurements and those at three months following surgery, as well as in time-versus-treatment analysis (p = 0.928). CONCLUSION Six-week preoperative physiotherapy showed no significant impact on short-term functional outcomes (KOOS subscales) and ROM of the knee following primary TKA. PMID:26996450

Ventral striatal dysfunction in cocaine dependence - difference mapping for subregional resting state functional connectivity.

PubMed

Zhang, Sheng; Li, Chiang-Shan R

2018-06-18

Research of dopaminergic deficits has focused on the ventral striatum (VS) with many studies elucidating altered resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in individuals with cocaine dependence (CD). The VS comprises functional subregions and delineation of subregional changes in rsFC requires careful consideration of the differences between addicted and healthy populations. In the current study, we parcellated the VS using whole-brain rsFC differences between CD and non-drug-using controls (HC). Voxels with similar rsFC changes formed functional clusters. The results showed that the VS was divided into 3 subclusters, in the area of the dorsal-anterior VS (daVS), dorsal posterior VS (dpVS), and ventral VS (vVS), each in association with different patterns of rsFC. The three subregions shared reduced rsFC with bilateral hippocampal/parahippocampal gyri (HG/PHG) but also showed distinct changes, including reduced vVS rsFC with ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and increased daVS rsFC with visual cortex in CD as compared to HC. Across CD, daVS visual cortical connectivity was positively correlated with amount of prior-month cocaine use and cocaine craving, and vVS vmPFC connectivity was negatively correlated with the extent of depression and anxiety. These findings suggest a distinct pattern of altered VS subregional rsFC in cocaine dependence, and some of the changes have eluded analyses using the whole VS as a seed region. The findings may provide new insight to delineating VS circuit deficits in cocaine dependence and provide an alternative analytical framework to address functional dysconnectivity in other mental illnesses.

The Effect of Nasal Functions on the Integrity of Grafts after Myringoplasty

PubMed Central

Eser, Başak Çaypınar; Yılmaz, Aslı Şahin; Toros, Sema Zer; Oysu, Çağatay

2017-01-01

Objective We aimed to evaluate the effects of nasal functions for the integrity of grafts after myringoplasty. Methods In our study 78 patients who underwent myringoplasty operation between 2011–2013 were included. Group I was defined as the group with an intact tympanic membrane following surgery. Group II was defined as the group with a tympanic membrane perforation following surgery. Group I consisted of 44 and Group II consisted of 34 patients. Subjective and objective measurements of nasal functions, Eustachian tube function (ETF), and allergic status were performed using nasal obstruction symptom evaluation (NOSE) scale, visual analog scale (VAS), and the score for allergic rhinitis (SFAR) questionnaires and acoustic rhinometry and saccharin test. It was investigated whether there was any difference between these two groups in terms of these parameters. Results There was statistically no significant difference between groups according to the age, sex and the presence of tubal dysfunction and allergic rhinitis (p>0.05). In the group of intact tympanic membranes, the likelihood of right ear being the operated one was significantly higher compared to the group of myringoplasty failures (p=0.037). The VAS and NOSE scales did not show any significant difference between groups in terms of successful outcome of myringoplasty (p>0.05). The nasal congestion index (NCI) and the mucociliary clearance (MCC) did not show any significant difference between groups in terms of successful outcome of myringoplasty (p>0.05). Conclusion This study has shown that nasal functions measured by objective and subjective methods had no effects on the success of myringoplasty. PMID:29515926

The Effect of Nasal Functions on the Integrity of Grafts after Myringoplasty.

PubMed

Eser, Başak Çaypınar; Yılmaz, Aslı Şahin; Önder, Serap Şahin; Toros, Sema Zer; Oysu, Çağatay

2017-12-01

We aimed to evaluate the effects of nasal functions for the integrity of grafts after myringoplasty. In our study 78 patients who underwent myringoplasty operation between 2011-2013 were included. Group I was defined as the group with an intact tympanic membrane following surgery. Group II was defined as the group with a tympanic membrane perforation following surgery. Group I consisted of 44 and Group II consisted of 34 patients. Subjective and objective measurements of nasal functions, Eustachian tube function (ETF), and allergic status were performed using nasal obstruction symptom evaluation (NOSE) scale, visual analog scale (VAS), and the score for allergic rhinitis (SFAR) questionnaires and acoustic rhinometry and saccharin test. It was investigated whether there was any difference between these two groups in terms of these parameters. There was statistically no significant difference between groups according to the age, sex and the presence of tubal dysfunction and allergic rhinitis (p>0.05). In the group of intact tympanic membranes, the likelihood of right ear being the operated one was significantly higher compared to the group of myringoplasty failures (p=0.037). The VAS and NOSE scales did not show any significant difference between groups in terms of successful outcome of myringoplasty (p>0.05). The nasal congestion index (NCI) and the mucociliary clearance (MCC) did not show any significant difference between groups in terms of successful outcome of myringoplasty (p>0.05). This study has shown that nasal functions measured by objective and subjective methods had no effects on the success of myringoplasty.

A Bayesian sequential design using alpha spending function to control type I error.

PubMed

Zhu, Han; Yu, Qingzhao

2017-10-01

We propose in this article a Bayesian sequential design using alpha spending functions to control the overall type I error in phase III clinical trials. We provide algorithms to calculate critical values, power, and sample sizes for the proposed design. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to check the effects from different prior distributions, and conservative priors are recommended. We compare the power and actual sample sizes of the proposed Bayesian sequential design with different alpha spending functions through simulations. We also compare the power of the proposed method with frequentist sequential design using the same alpha spending function. Simulations show that, at the same sample size, the proposed method provides larger power than the corresponding frequentist sequential design. It also has larger power than traditional Bayesian sequential design which sets equal critical values for all interim analyses. When compared with other alpha spending functions, O'Brien-Fleming alpha spending function has the largest power and is the most conservative in terms that at the same sample size, the null hypothesis is the least likely to be rejected at early stage of clinical trials. And finally, we show that adding a step of stop for futility in the Bayesian sequential design can reduce the overall type I error and reduce the actual sample sizes.

Multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem processes: Exploring the joint influence of intraspecific, specific and interspecific diversity.

PubMed

Eduardo, Anderson A

2016-09-07

The positive influence of biodiversity on ecosystem processes was the focus of intense debate in ecology throughout the recent decades, becoming accepted and treated as a new paradigm in contemporary ecology. However, the available literature in this research field extensively explores species richness as an unidimensional measure for biodiversity. The present study explores how different components of biological diversity (number of genotypes, species, and functional groups) can influence an ecosystem process (biomass fixation). A mathematical model was employed and the simulation results showed that species richness per se does not affect the ecosystem productivity. Genotypic richness affected positively the ecosystem, but only if the genotypes are functionally complementary. The functional groups richness always affected positively the simulated ecosystem process. When together, richness at the different components of biological diversity showed stronger effect on ecosystem, and the scenarios with high species, genotypes and functional groups richness were the most productive ones. The results also allowed to observe that the ecosystems which are diverse in terms of functional groups and genotypes can be less susceptible to species loss. Finally, it is argued that a multiple dimension approach to biodiversity is relevant to advance the current knowledge on the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the difference in cohesive energies between alpha and beta tin in DFT calculations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Legrain, Fleur; Manzhos, Sergei, E-mail: mpemanzh@nus.edu.sg

2016-04-15

The transition temperature between the low-temperature alpha phase of tin to beta tin is close to the room temperature (T{sub αβ} = 13{sup 0}C), and the difference in cohesive energy of the two phases at 0 K of about ΔE{sub coh} =0.02 eV/atom is at the limit of the accuracy of DFT (density functional theory) with available exchange-correlation functionals. It is however critically important to model the relative phase energies correctly for any reasonable description of phenomena and technologies involving these phases, for example, the performance of tin electrodes in electrochemical batteries. Here, we show that several commonly used andmore » converged DFT setups using the most practical and widely used PBE functional result in ΔE{sub coh} ≈0.04 eV/atom, with different types of basis sets and with different models of core electrons (all-electron or pseudopotentials of different types), which leads to a significant overestimation of T{sub αβ}. We show that this is due to the errors in relative positions of s and p –like bands, which, combined with different populations of these bands in α and β Sn, leads to overstabilization of alpha tin. We show that this error can be effectively corrected by applying a Hubbard +U correction to s –like states, whereby correct cohesive energies of both α and β Sn can be obtained with the same computational scheme. We quantify for the first time the effects of anharmonicity on ΔE{sub coh} and find that it is negligible.« less

Divergence between motoneurons: gene expression profiling provides a molecular characterization of functionally discrete somatic and autonomic motoneurons

PubMed Central

Cui, Dapeng; Dougherty, Kimberly J.; Machacek, David W.; Sawchuk, Michael; Hochman, Shawn; Baro, Deborah J.

2009-01-01

Studies in the developing spinal cord suggest that different motoneuron (MN) cell types express very different genetic programs, but the degree to which adult programs differ is unknown. To compare genetic programs between adult MN columnar cell types, we used laser capture micro-dissection (LCM) and Affymetrix microarrays to create expression profiles for three columnar cell types: lateral and medial MNs from lumbar segments and sympathetic preganglionic motoneurons located in the thoracic intermediolateral nucleus. A comparison of the three expression profiles indicated that ~7% (813/11,552) of the genes showed significant differences in their expression levels. The largest differences were observed between sympathetic preganglionic MNs and the lateral motor column, with 6% (706/11,552) of the genes being differentially expressed. Significant differences in expression were observed for 1.8% (207/11,552) of the genes when comparing sympathetic preganglionic MNs with the medial motor column. Lateral and medial MNs showed the least divergence, with 1.3% (150/11,552) of the genes being differentially expressed. These data indicate that the amount of divergence in expression profiles between identified columnar MNs does not strictly correlate with divergence of function as defined by innervation patterns (somatic/muscle vs. autonomic/viscera). Classification of the differentially expressed genes with regard to function showed that they underpin all fundamental cell systems and processes, although most differentially expressed genes encode proteins involved in signal transduction. Mining the expression profiles to examine transcription factors essential for MN development suggested that many of the same transcription factors participatein combinatorial codes in embryonic and adult neurons, but patterns of expression change significantly. PMID:16317082

Cerebro-cerebellar connectivity is increased in primary lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Meoded, Avner; Morrissette, Arthur E; Katipally, Rohan; Schanz, Olivia; Gotts, Stephen J; Floeter, Mary Kay

2015-01-01

Increased functional connectivity in resting state networks was found in several studies of patients with motor neuron disorders, although diffusion tensor imaging studies consistently show loss of white matter integrity. To understand the relationship between structural connectivity and functional connectivity, we examined the structural connections between regions with altered functional connectivity in patients with primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), a long-lived motor neuron disease. Connectivity matrices were constructed from resting state fMRI in 16 PLS patients to identify areas of differing connectivity between patients and healthy controls. Probabilistic fiber tracking was used to examine structural connections between regions of differing connectivity. PLS patients had 12 regions with increased functional connectivity compared to controls, with a predominance of cerebro-cerebellar connections. Increased functional connectivity was strongest between the cerebellum and cortical motor areas and between the cerebellum and frontal and temporal cortex. Fiber tracking detected no difference in connections between regions with increased functional connectivity. We conclude that functional connectivity changes are not strongly based in structural connectivity. Increased functional connectivity may be caused by common inputs, or by reduced selectivity of cortical activation, which could result from loss of intracortical inhibition when cortical afferents are intact.

Rational Ruijsenaars Schneider hierarchy and bispectral difference operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iliev, Plamen

2007-05-01

We show that a monic polynomial in a discrete variable n, with coefficients depending on time variables t1,t2,…, is a τ-function for the discrete Kadomtsev-Petviashvili hierarchy if and only if the motion of its zeros is governed by a hierarchy of Ruijsenaars-Schneider systems. These τ-functions were considered in [L. Haine, P. Iliev, Commutative rings of difference operators and an adelic flag manifold, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2000 (6) (2000) 281-323], where it was proved that they parametrize rank one solutions to a difference-differential version of the bispectral problem.

Categorical perception of intonation contrasts: effects of listeners' language background.

PubMed

Liu, Chang; Rodriguez, Amanda

2012-06-01

Intonation perception of English speech was examined for English- and Chinese-native listeners. F0 contour was manipulated from falling to rising patterns for the final words of three sentences. Listener's task was to identify and discriminate the intonation of each sentence (question versus statement). English and Chinese listeners had significant differences in the identification functions such as the categorical boundary and the slope. In the discrimination functions, Chinese listeners showed greater peakedness than English peers. The cross-linguistic differences in intonation perception were similar to the previous findings in perception of lexical tones, likely due to listeners' language background differences.

Discriminating Among Probability Weighting Functions Using Adaptive Design Optimization

PubMed Central

Cavagnaro, Daniel R.; Pitt, Mark A.; Gonzalez, Richard; Myung, Jay I.

2014-01-01

Probability weighting functions relate objective probabilities and their subjective weights, and play a central role in modeling choices under risk within cumulative prospect theory. While several different parametric forms have been proposed, their qualitative similarities make it challenging to discriminate among them empirically. In this paper, we use both simulation and choice experiments to investigate the extent to which different parametric forms of the probability weighting function can be discriminated using adaptive design optimization, a computer-based methodology that identifies and exploits model differences for the purpose of model discrimination. The simulation experiments show that the correct (data-generating) form can be conclusively discriminated from its competitors. The results of an empirical experiment reveal heterogeneity between participants in terms of the functional form, with two models (Prelec-2, Linear in Log Odds) emerging as the most common best-fitting models. The findings shed light on assumptions underlying these models. PMID:24453406

Born criminal? Differences in structural, functional and behavioural lateralization between criminals and noncriminals.

PubMed

Savopoulos, Priscilla; Lindell, Annukka K

2018-02-15

Over 100 years ago Lombroso [(1876/2006). Criminal man. Durham: Duke University Press] proposed a biological basis for criminality. Based on inspection of criminals' skulls he theorized that an imbalance of the cerebral hemispheres was amongst 18 distinguishing features of the criminal brain. Specifically, criminals were less lateralized than noncriminals. As the advent of neuroscientific techniques makes more fine-grained inspection of differences in brain structure and function possible, we review criminals' and noncriminals' structural, functional, and behavioural lateralization to evaluate the merits of Lombroso's thesis and investigate the evidence for the biological underpinning of criminal behaviour. Although the body of research is presently small, it appears consistent with Lombroso's proposal: criminal psychopaths' brains show atypical structural asymmetries, with reduced right hemisphere grey and white matter volumes, and abnormal interhemispheric connectivity. Functional asymmetries are also atypical, with criminal psychopaths showing a less lateralized cortical response than noncriminals across verbal, visuo-spatial, and emotional tasks. Finally, the incidence of non-right-handedness is higher in criminal than non-criminal populations, consistent with reduced cortical lateralization. Thus despite Lombroso's comparatively primitive and inferential research methods, his conclusion that criminals' lateralization differs from that of noncriminals is borne out by the neuroscientific research. How atypical cortical asymmetries predispose criminal behaviour remains to be determined.

The nature of inherent bactericidal activity: insights from the nanotopology of three species of dragonfly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mainwaring, David E.; Nguyen, Song Ha; Webb, Hayden; Jakubov, Timur; Tobin, Mark; Lamb, Robert N.; Wu, Alex H.-F.; Marchant, Richard; Crawford, Russell J.; Ivanova, Elena P.

2016-03-01

While insect wings are widely recognised as multi-functional, recent work showed that this extends to extensive bactericidal activity brought about by cell deformation and lysis on the wing nanotopology. We now quantitatively show that subtle changes to this topography result in substantial changes in bactericidal activity that are able to span an order of magnitude. Notably, the chemical composition of the lipid nanopillars was seen by XPS and synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy to be similar across these activity differences. Modelling the interaction between bacterial cells and the wing surface lipids of 3 species of dragonflies, that inhabit similar environments, but with distinctly different behavioural repertoires, provided the relationship between surface structure and antibacterial functionality. In doing so, these principal behavioural patterns correlated with the demands for antimicrobial efficiency dictated by differences in their foraging strategies. This work now reveals a new feature in the design elegance of natural multi-functional surfaces as well providing insights into the bactericidal mechanism underlying inherently antimicrobial materials, while suggesting that nanotopology is related to the evolutionary development of a species through the demands of its behavioural repertoire. The underlying relationship between the processes of wetting, adhesion and capillarity of the lipid nanopillars and bactericidal efficiency suggests new prospects for purely mechano-responsive antibacterial surfaces.While insect wings are widely recognised as multi-functional, recent work showed that this extends to extensive bactericidal activity brought about by cell deformation and lysis on the wing nanotopology. We now quantitatively show that subtle changes to this topography result in substantial changes in bactericidal activity that are able to span an order of magnitude. Notably, the chemical composition of the lipid nanopillars was seen by XPS and synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy to be similar across these activity differences. Modelling the interaction between bacterial cells and the wing surface lipids of 3 species of dragonflies, that inhabit similar environments, but with distinctly different behavioural repertoires, provided the relationship between surface structure and antibacterial functionality. In doing so, these principal behavioural patterns correlated with the demands for antimicrobial efficiency dictated by differences in their foraging strategies. This work now reveals a new feature in the design elegance of natural multi-functional surfaces as well providing insights into the bactericidal mechanism underlying inherently antimicrobial materials, while suggesting that nanotopology is related to the evolutionary development of a species through the demands of its behavioural repertoire. The underlying relationship between the processes of wetting, adhesion and capillarity of the lipid nanopillars and bactericidal efficiency suggests new prospects for purely mechano-responsive antibacterial surfaces. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr08542j

Optical conductivity of partially oxidized graphene from first principles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nasehnia, F., E-mail: f.nasehnia@gmail.com; Seifi, M., E-mail: Seifi@guilan.ac.ir

2015-07-07

We investigate the geometry, electronic structure, and optical properties of partially oxidized graphene using density functional theory. Our calculations show that oxygen atoms are chemisorbed on graphene plane and distort carbon atoms vertically, with almost no change in the in-plane structure. The ground state configurations for different oxygen coverages ranging from 2% to 50% (O/C ratio) are calculated and show the strong tendency of oxygen adatoms to aggregate and form discrete islands on graphene plane. It is found that the opened band gap due to oxygen functionalization depends on the oxygen density and the adsorption configuration. The gap is notmore » significant for oxygen densities lower than 8%. The optical conductivities are calculated in the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet regions and show different characteristic features depending on the degree of oxidation. These results imply that optical measurement techniques can be employed to monitor oxidation (or reduction) process as contact-free methods.« less

The universal function in color dipole model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jalilian, Z.; Boroun, G. R.

2017-10-01

In this work we review color dipole model and recall properties of the saturation and geometrical scaling in this model. Our primary aim is determining the exact universal function in terms of the introduced scaling variable in different distance than the saturation radius. With inserting the mass in calculation we compute numerically the contribution of heavy productions in small x from the total structure function by the fraction of universal functions and show the geometrical scaling is established due to our scaling variable in this study.

Photosynthetic functions of Synechococcus in the ocean microbiomes of diverse salinity and seasons.

PubMed

Kim, Yihwan; Jeon, Jehyun; Kwak, Min Seok; Kim, Gwang Hoon; Koh, InSong; Rho, Mina

2018-01-01

Synechococcus is an important photosynthetic picoplankton in the temperate to tropical oceans. As a photosynthetic bacterium, Synechococcus has an efficient mechanism to adapt to the changes in salinity and light intensity. The analysis of the distributions and functions of such microorganisms in the ever changing river mouth environment, where freshwater and seawater mix, should help better understand their roles in the ecosystem. Toward this objective, we have collected and sequenced the ocean microbiome in the river mouth of Kwangyang Bay, Korea, as a function of salinity and temperature. In conjunction with comparative genomics approaches using the sequenced genomes of a wide phylogeny of Synechococcus, the ocean microbiome was analyzed in terms of their composition and clade-specific functions. The results showed significant differences in the compositions of Synechococcus sampled in different seasons. The photosynthetic functions in such enhanced Synechococcus strains were also observed in the microbiomes in summer, which is significantly different from those in other seasons.

Evaluation of a pilot workload metric for simulated VTOL landing tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

North, R. A.; Graffunder, K.

1979-01-01

A methodological approach to measuring workload was investigated for evaluation of new concepts in VTOL aircraft displays. Multivariate discriminant functions were formed from conventional flight performance and/or visual response variables to maximize detection of experimental differences. The flight performance variable discriminant showed maximum differentiation between crosswind conditions. The visual response measure discriminant maximized differences between fixed vs. motion base conditions and experimental displays. Physiological variables were used to attempt to predict the discriminant function values for each subject/condition/trial. The weights of the physiological variables in these equations showed agreement with previous studies. High muscle tension, light but irregular breathing patterns, and higher heart rate with low amplitude all produced higher scores on this scale and thus, represented higher workload levels.

The calculation of the viscosity from the autocorrelation function using molecular and atomic stress tensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, S. T.

The stress-stress correlation function and the viscosity of a united-atom model of liquid decane are studied by equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation using two different formalisms for the stress tensor: the atomic and the molecular formalisms. The atomic and molecular correlation functions show dramatic difference in short-time behaviour. The integrals of the two correlation functions, however, become identical after a short transient period whichis significantly shorter than the rotational relaxation time of the molecule. Both reach the same plateau value in a time period corresponding to this relaxation time. These results provide a convenient guide for the choice of the upper integral time limit in calculating the viscosity by the Green-Kubo formula.

Comparisons of regional Hydrological Angular Momentum (HAM) of the different models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nastula, J.; Kolaczek, B.; Popinski, W.

2006-10-01

In the paper hydrological excitations of the polar motion (HAM) were computed from various hydrological data series (NCEP, ECMWF, CPC water storage and LaD World Simulations of global continental water). HAM series obtained from these four models and the geodetic excitation function GEOD computed from the polar motion COMB03 data were compared in the seasonal spectral band. The results show big differences of these hydrological excitation functions as well as of their spectra in the seasonal spectra band. Seasonal oscillations of the global geophysical excitation functions (AAM + OAM + HAM) in all cases besides the NCEP/NCAR model are smaller than the geodetic excitation function. It means that these models need further improvement and perhaps not only hydrological models need improvements.

Chewing in adolescents with overweight and obesity: An exploratory study with behavioral approach.

PubMed

Pedroni-Pereira, Aline; Araujo, Darlle Santos; Scudine, Kelly Guedes de Oliveira; Prado, Daniela Galvão de Almeida; Lima, Débora Alves Nunes Leite; Castelo, Paula Midori

2016-12-01

Physiological and behavioral aspects of masticatory function may have an impact on nutritional status, which has been little studied. The aim was to perform a comprehensive evaluation of objective, subjective and behavioral aspects of masticatory function in 231 adolescents, aged 14-17 years and compare these parameters between normal-weight (n = 115) and adolescents with overweight/obesity (n = 116). Objective aspects were examined by the Oro-facial Myofunctional Evaluation-expanded protocol (OMES-e), determining the masticatory type, chewing time/frequency, abnormal movements, and other; masticatory performance (color changeable chewing gum) and bite force were also explored. The subjective and behavioral evaluations were assessed using the Quality of Mastication Function Questionnaire, which explores the masticatory behavior and frequency/intensity of difficulty in chewing different types of foods. Results were submitted to normality tests, Chi-square, unpaired t-test and Mann-Whitney. A multiple linear regression model was used to evaluate which of the variables under study contributed to the variation in Percent Body Fat (α = 0.05). The results showed that OMES-e total score differed significantly between groups, that is, individuals with overweight showed more changes in oro-facial myofunctional aspects than normal-weight ones. Unilateral mastication was more frequent among females with overweight/obesity. They also showed greater difficulty on Habits and Fruit domains, reporting the need of adding sauce to the meal to facilitate swallowing and peeling and cutting fruit (apples) in small pieces in order to better chew them. OMES-e total score also showed a significant relationship with Percent Body Fat. Masticatory performance evaluated by chewing gum and bite force did not differ between groups. This study showed that adolescents with excess weight presented changes in masticatory behavior and greater difficulty in performing the masticatory function comparing to normal-weight ones. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Comparative Study of Circadian Rhythm Functioning and Sleep in People with Asperger Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare, Dougal Julian; Jones, Steven; Evershed, Kate

2006-01-01

The circadian rhythm functioning and sleep patterns of 10 adults with Asperger syndrome were investigated using actigraphy. When compared with data from neurotypical adults, both statistical and clinically significant differences were found between the two groups, with the adults with Asperger syndrome showing marked abnormalities in both the…

The Influence of Family Functioning and Parent-Adolescent Acculturation on North American Chinese Adolescent Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crane, D. Russell; Ngai, So Wa; Larson, Jeffry H.; Hafen, McArthur, Jr.

2005-01-01

The present study investigated the associations between family functioning, acculturation between parents and their adolescents, and adolescent adjustment problems. Chinese adolescents and their parents (N=41) living in the United States and Canada participated in this study. Results showed that differences in acculturation between parents and…

The effect of respiratory exercise on trunk control, pulmonary function, and trunk muscle activity in chronic stroke patients.

PubMed

Lee, Dong-Kyu; Kim, Se-Hun

2018-05-01

[Purpose] This study aims to identify the effect of respiratory exercise on trunk control, pulmonary function, and trunk muscle activity in chronic stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] The study included 24 chronic stroke patients who were randomly assigned, 12 each, to the experimental and control groups, and received neurodevelopmental treatment. Moreover, the experimental group underwent respiratory exercise. In each patient, the trunk control was measured using the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS); muscle activity of the trunk, through the surface electromyogram; and pulmonary function, using the pneumatometer. [Results] The intragroup comparison showed significant differences in TIS, Forced vital capacity (FVC), Forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), Rectus Abdominis (RA), Internal Oblique (IO) and External Oblique (EO) in the experimental group. The intergroup comparison showed that the differences in TIS, FVC, FEV1, RA, IO and EO within the experimental group appeared significant relative to the control group. [Conclusion] Based on these results, this study proved that respiratory exercise was effective in improving trunk control, pulmonary function, and trunk muscle activity in patients with chronic stroke.

On the abundance of extreme voids II: a survey of void mass functions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chongchitnan, Siri; Hunt, Matthew, E-mail: s.chongchitnan@hull.ac.uk, E-mail: m.d.hunt@2012.hull.ac.uk

2017-03-01

The abundance of cosmic voids can be described by an analogue of halo mass functions for galaxy clusters. In this work, we explore a number of void mass functions: from those based on excursion-set theory to new mass functions obtained by modifying halo mass functions. We show how different void mass functions vary in their predictions for the largest void expected in an observational volume, and compare those predictions to observational data. Our extreme-value formalism is shown to be a new practical tool for testing void theories against simulation and observation.

From Commodity Polymers to Functional Polymers

PubMed Central

Xiang, Tao; Wang, Ling-Ren; Ma, Lang; Han, Zhi-Yuan; Wang, Rui; Cheng, Chong; Xia, Yi; Qin, Hui; Zhao, Chang-Sheng

2014-01-01

Functional polymers bear specified chemical groups, and have specified physical, chemical, biological, pharmacological, or other uses. To adjust the properties while keeping material usage low, a method for direct synthesis of functional polymers is indispensable. Here we show that various functional polymers can be synthesized by in situ cross-linked polymerization/copolymerization. We demonstrate that the polymers synthesized by the facile method using different functional monomers own outstanding pH-sensitivity and pH-reversibility, antifouling property, antibacterial, and anticoagulant property. Our study opens a route for the functionalization of commodity polymers, which lead to important advances in polymeric materials applications. PMID:24710333

Quantification of texture match of the skin graft: function and morphology of the stratum corneum.

PubMed

Inoue, K; Matsumoto, K

1986-01-01

In an attempt to analyze the "texture match" of grafted skin, functional and morphological aspects of the stratum corneum were studied using the Skin Surface Hydrometer (IBS Inc.) and the scanning electron microscope. The results showed that hygroscopicity and water holding capacity of the stratum corneum played a crucial role in making the skin surface soft and smooth. Morphologically there were regional differences in the surface pattern and the mean area of corneocytes, suggesting that these differences affect skin texture. It is suggested that the present functional and morphological studies of the stratum corneum can provide a quantitative measure of the "texture match".

Transfer function analysis of the autonomic response to respiratory activity during random interval breathing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, M. H.; Berger, R. D.; Saul, J. P.; Stevenson, K.; Cohen, R. J.

1987-01-01

We report a new method for the noninvasive characterization of the frequency response of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in mediating fluctuations in heart rate (HR). The approach entails computation of the transfer function magnitude and phase between instantaneous lung volume and HR. Broad band fluctuations in lung volume were initiated when subjects breathed on cue to a sequence of beeps spaced randomly in time. We studied 10 subjects in both supine and standing positions. The transfer function, averaged among all the subjects, showed systematic differences between the two postures, reflecting the differing frequency responses of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the ANS.

Whole Brain Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Determinants of Functional Outcomes in Pediatric Moderate/Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Babikian, Talin; Alger, Jeffry R; Ellis-Blied, Monica U; Giza, Christopher C; Dennis, Emily; Olsen, Alexander; Mink, Richard; Babbitt, Christopher; Johnson, Jeff; Thompson, Paul M; Asarnow, Robert F

2018-05-18

Diffuse axonal injury contributes to the long-term functional morbidity observed after pediatric moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI). Whole-brain proton magnetic resonance echo-planar spectroscopic imaging was used to measure the neurometabolite levels in the brain to delineate the course of disruption/repair during the first year post-msTBI. The association between metabolite biomarkers and functional measures (cognitive functioning and corpus callosum [CC] function assessed by interhemispheric transfer time [IHTT] using an event related potential paradigm) was also explored. Pediatric patients with msTBI underwent assessments at two times (post-acutely at a mean of three months post-injury, n = 31, and chronically at a mean of 16 months post-injury, n = 24). Healthy controls also underwent two evaluations, approximately 12 months apart. Post-acutely, in patients with msTBI, there were elevations in choline (Cho; marker for inflammation and/or altered membrane metabolism) in all four brain lobes and the CC and decreases in N-acetylaspartate (NAA; marker for neuronal and axonal integrity) in the CC compared with controls, all of which normalized by the chronic time point. Subgroups of TBI showed variable patterns chronically. Patients with slow IHTT had lower lobar Cho chronically than those with normal IHTT; they also did not show normalization in CC NAA whereas those with normal IHTT showed significantly higher levels of CC NAA relative to controls. In the normal IHTT group only, chronic CC Cho and NAA together explained 70% of the variance in long-term cognitive functioning. MR based whole brain metabolic evaluations show different patterns of neurochemistry after msTBI in two subgroups with different outcomes. There is a dynamic relationship between prolonged inflammatory responses to brain damage, reparative processes/remyelination, and subsequent neurobehavioral outcomes. Multimodal studies allow us to test hypotheses about degenerative and reparative processes in patient groups that have divergent functional outcome, with the ultimate goal of developing targeted therapeutic agents.

Unique associations between young adult men's emotional functioning and their body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.

PubMed

Griffiths, Scott; Angus, Douglas; Murray, Stuart B; Touyz, Stephen

2014-03-01

Research on emotional functioning, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in males is predominated by studies of negative affect and emotion regulation. Other aspects of emotional functioning, namely emotion recognition and attentional biases toward emotional stimuli, have received little empirical attention. The present study investigated the unique associations between different aspects of men's emotional functioning and their disordered eating attitudes, muscularity dissatisfaction, and body fat dissatisfaction. Results from 132 male undergraduates showed that muscularity dissatisfaction was uniquely associated with both emotion regulation difficulties and an attentional bias toward rejecting faces. Body fat dissatisfaction was not uniquely associated with any aspect of emotional functioning. Disordered eating was uniquely associated with emotion regulation difficulties. Collectively, the results indicate differences in the patterns of associations between men's emotional functioning and their body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The cooking task: making a meal of executive functions.

PubMed

Doherty, T A; Barker, L A; Denniss, R; Jalil, A; Beer, M D

2015-01-01

Current standardized neuropsychological tests may fail to accurately capture real-world executive deficits. We developed a computer-based Cooking Task (CT) assessment of executive functions and trialed the measure with a normative group before use with a head-injured population. Forty-six participants completed the computerized CT and subtests from standardized neuropsychological tasks, including the Tower and Sorting Tests of executive function from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) and the Cambridge prospective memory test (CAMPROMPT), in order to examine whether standardized executive function tasks, predicted performance on measurement indices from the CT. Findings showed that verbal comprehension, rule detection and prospective memory contributed to measures of prospective planning accuracy and strategy implementation of the CT. Results also showed that functions necessary for cooking efficacy differ as an effect of task demands (difficulty levels). Performance on rule detection, strategy implementation and flexible thinking executive function measures contributed to accuracy on the CT. These findings raise questions about the functions captured by present standardized tasks particularly at varying levels of difficulty and during dual-task performance. Our preliminary findings also indicate that CT measures can effectively distinguish between executive function and Full Scale IQ abilities. Results of the present study indicate that the CT shows promise as an ecologically valid measure of executive function for future use with a head-injured population and indexes selective executive function's captured by standardized tests.

Temperature regulates methane production through the function centralization of microbial community in anaerobic digestion.

PubMed

Lin, Qiang; De Vrieze, Jo; He, Guihua; Li, Xiangzhen; Li, Jiabao

2016-09-01

Temperature is crucial for the performance of anaerobic digestion process. In this study of anaerobic digestion of swine manure, the relationship between the microbial gene expression and methane production at different temperatures (25-55°C) was revealed through metatranscriptomic analysis. Daily methane production and total biogas production increased with temperature up to 50°C, but decreased at 55°C. The functional gene expression showed great variation at different temperatures. The function centralization (opposite to alpha-diversity), assessed by the least proportions of functional pathways contributing for at least 50% of total reads positively correlated to methane production. Temperature regulated methane production probably through reducing the diversity of functional pathways, but enhancing central functional pathways, so that most of cellular activities and resource were invested in methanogenesis and related pathways, enhancing the efficiency of conversion of substrates to methane. This research demonstrated the importance of function centralization for efficient system functioning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contrasting brain patterns of writing-related DTI parameters, fMRI connectivity, and DTI-fMRI connectivity correlations in children with and without dysgraphia or dyslexia.

PubMed

Richards, T L; Grabowski, T J; Boord, P; Yagle, K; Askren, M; Mestre, Z; Robinson, P; Welker, O; Gulliford, D; Nagy, W; Berninger, V

2015-01-01

Based on comprehensive testing and educational history, children in grades 4-9 (on average 12 years) were diagnosed with dysgraphia (persisting handwriting impairment) or dyslexia (persisting word spelling/reading impairment) or as typical writers and readers (controls). The dysgraphia group (n = 14) and dyslexia group (n = 17) were each compared to the control group (n = 9) and to each other in separate analyses. Four brain region seed points (left occipital temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, precuneus, and inferior frontal gyrus) were used in these analyses which were shown in a metaanalysis to be related to written word production on four indicators of white matter integrity and fMRI functional connectivity for four tasks (self-guided mind wandering during resting state, writing letter that follows a visually displayed letter in alphabet, writing missing letter to create a correctly spelled real word, and planning for composing after scanning on topic specified by researcher). For those DTI indicators on which the dysgraphic group or dyslexic group differed from the control group (fractional anisotropy, relative anisotropy, axial diffusivity but not radial diffusivity), correlations were computed between the DTI parameter and fMRI functional connectivity for the two writing tasks (alphabet and spelling) by seed points. Analyses, controlled for multiple comparisons, showed that (a) the control group exhibited more white matter integrity than either the dysgraphic or dyslexic group; (b) the dysgraphic and dyslexic groups showed more functional connectivity than the control group but differed in patterns of functional connectivity for task and seed point; and (c) the dysgraphic and dyslexic groups showed different patterns of significant DTI-fMRI connectivity correlations for specific seed points and written language tasks. Thus, dysgraphia and dyslexia differ in white matter integrity, fMRI functional connectivity, and white matter-gray matter correlations. Of clinical relevance, brain differences were observed in dysgraphia and dyslexia on written language tasks yoked to their defining behavioral impairments in handwriting and/or in word spelling and on the cognitive mind wandering rest condition and composition planning.

Contrasting brain patterns of writing-related DTI parameters, fMRI connectivity, and DTI–fMRI connectivity correlations in children with and without dysgraphia or dyslexia

PubMed Central

Richards, T.L.; Grabowski, T.J.; Boord, P.; Yagle, K.; Askren, M.; Mestre, Z.; Robinson, P.; Welker, O.; Gulliford, D.; Nagy, W.; Berninger, V.

2015-01-01

Based on comprehensive testing and educational history, children in grades 4–9 (on average 12 years) were diagnosed with dysgraphia (persisting handwriting impairment) or dyslexia (persisting word spelling/reading impairment) or as typical writers and readers (controls). The dysgraphia group (n = 14) and dyslexia group (n = 17) were each compared to the control group (n = 9) and to each other in separate analyses. Four brain region seed points (left occipital temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, precuneus, and inferior frontal gyrus) were used in these analyses which were shown in a metaanalysis to be related to written word production on four indicators of white matter integrity and fMRI functional connectivity for four tasks (self-guided mind wandering during resting state, writing letter that follows a visually displayed letter in alphabet, writing missing letter to create a correctly spelled real word, and planning for composing after scanning on topic specified by researcher). For those DTI indicators on which the dysgraphic group or dyslexic group differed from the control group (fractional anisotropy, relative anisotropy, axial diffusivity but not radial diffusivity), correlations were computed between the DTI parameter and fMRI functional connectivity for the two writing tasks (alphabet and spelling) by seed points. Analyses, controlled for multiple comparisons, showed that (a) the control group exhibited more white matter integrity than either the dysgraphic or dyslexic group; (b) the dysgraphic and dyslexic groups showed more functional connectivity than the control group but differed in patterns of functional connectivity for task and seed point; and (c) the dysgraphic and dyslexic groups showed different patterns of significant DTI–fMRI connectivity correlations for specific seed points and written language tasks. Thus, dysgraphia and dyslexia differ in white matter integrity, fMRI functional connectivity, and white matter–gray matter correlations. Of clinical relevance, brain differences were observed in dysgraphia and dyslexia on written language tasks yoked to their defining behavioral impairments in handwriting and/or in word spelling and on the cognitive mind wandering rest condition and composition planning. PMID:26106566

Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum Strain OLL2712 Culture Conditions on the Anti-inflammatory Activities for Murine Immune Cells and Obese and Type 2 Diabetic Mice.

PubMed

Toshimitsu, T; Ozaki, S; Mochizuki, J; Furuichi, K; Asami, Y

2017-04-01

Studies on the health-promoting effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are numerous, but few provide examples of the relationship between LAB function and culture conditions. We verified the effect of differences in culture conditions on Lactobacillus plantarum OLL2712 functionality; this strain exhibits anti-inflammatory activity and preventive effects against metabolic disorders. We measured interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-12 production in murine immune cells treated with OLL2712 cells prepared under various culture conditions. The results showed that the IL-10-inducing activities of OLL2712 cells on murine immune cells differed dramatically between OLL2712 groups at different culture phases and using different culture medium components, temperatures, and neutralizing pHs. In particular, exponential-phase cells had much more IL-10-inducing activity than stationary-phase cells. We confirmed that the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) stimulation activity of OLL2712 cells depended on culture conditions in conjunction with IL-10-inducing activity. We also demonstrated functional differences by culture phases in vivo ; OLL2712 cells at exponential phase had more anti-inflammatory activity and anti-metabolic-disorder effects on obese and diabetic mice than those by their stationary-phase counterparts. These results suggest that culture conditions affect the functionality of anti-inflammatory LAB. IMPORTANCE While previous studies demonstrated that culture conditions affected the immunomodulatory properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), few have comprehensively investigated the relationship between culture conditions and LAB functionality. In this study, we demonstrated several culture conditions of Lactobacillus plantarum OLL2712 for higher anti-inflammatory activity. We also showed that culture conditions concretely influenced the health-promoting functions of OLL2712 in vivo , particularly against metabolic disorders. Further, we characterized a novel mechanism by which changing LAB culture conditions affected immunomodulatory properties. Our results suggest that culture condition optimization is important for the production of LAB with anti-inflammatory activity. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Essays in market power mitigation and supply function equilibrium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramainam, Thiagarajah Natchie

Market power mitigation has been an integral part of wholesale electricity markets since deregulation. In wholesale electricity markets, different regions in the US take different approaches to regulating market power. While the exercise of market power has received considerable attention in the literature, the issue of market power mitigation has attracted scant attention. In the first chapter, I examine the market power mitigation rules used in New York ISO (Independent System Operator) and California ISO (CAISO) with respect to day-ahead and real-time energy markets. I test whether markups associated with New York in-city generators would be lower with an alternative approach to mitigation, the CAISO approach. Results indicate the difference in markups between these two mitigation rules is driven by the shape of residual demand curves for suppliers. Analysis of residual demand curves faced by New York in-city suppliers show similar markups under both mitigation rules when no one supplier is necessary to meet the demand (i.e., when no supplier is pivotal). However, when some supplier is crucial for the market to clear, the mitigation rule adopted by the NYISO consistently leads to higher markups than would the CAISO rule. This result suggest that market power episodes in New York is confined to periods where some supplier is pivotal. As a result, I find that applying the CAISOs' mitigation rules to the New York market could lower wholesale electricity prices by 18%. The second chapter of my dissertation focuses on supply function equilibrium. In power markets, suppliers submit offer curves in auctions, indicating their willingness to supply at different price levels. Although firms are allowed to submit different offer curves for different time periods, surprisingly many firms stick to a single offer curve for the entire day. This essentially means that firms are submitting a single offer curve for multiple demand realizations. A suitable framework to analyze such oligopolistic competition between power market suppliers is supply function equilibrium models. Using detailed bidding data, I develop equilibrium in supply functions by restricting supplier offers to a class of supply functions. By collating equilibrium supply functions corresponding to different realizations of demand, I obtain a single optimal supply function for the entire day. Then I compare the resulting supply function with actual day-ahead offers in New York. In addition to supply function equilibrium, I also develop a conservative bidding approach in which each firm assumes that rivals bid at marginal costs. Results show that the supply functions derived from equilibrium bidding model in this paper is not consistent with actual bidding in New York. This result is mainly driven by the class of supply functions used in this study to generate the equilibrium. Further, actual offers do not resemble offers generated by the conservative bidding algorithm.

Property Relationship in Organosilanes and Nanotubes Filled Polypropylene Hybrid Composites

PubMed Central

Monsiváis-Barrón, Alejandra J.; Bonilla-Rios, Jaime; Sánchez-Fernández, Antonio

2014-01-01

Polypropylene composites with different filler contents were prepared by creating a masterbatch containing 3 wt%. filler. A variety of silanol groups were used to synthetized three compounds in different media trough a sol-gel process with acetic acid, formic acid and ammonium hydroxide as catalysts. Besides, four different nanotubular fillers were also used to analyze their behavior and compare it with the effect caused by the silanol groups. These tubular structures comprise: unmodified halloysite, carbon nanotubes and functionalized halloysite and carbon nanotubes. Morphological characterization in SEM and STEM/TEM showed dispersion in the polypropylene matrix. According to TGA and DSC measurements thermal behavior remain similar for all the composites. Mechanical test in tension demonstrate that modulus of the composites increases for all samples with a major impact for materials containing silanol groups synthetized in formic acid. Rheological measurements show a significantly increment in viscosity for samples containing unmodified and modified carbon nanotubes. No difference was found for samples containing silanol groups and halloysite when compared to neat polypropylene. Finally, the oxygen transmission rate increased for all samples showing high barrier properties only for samples containing natural and functionalized halloysite nanotubes. PMID:28788233

Property Relationship in Organosilanes and Nanotubes Filled Polypropylene Hybrid Composites.

PubMed

Monsiváis-Barrón, Alejandra J; Bonilla-Rios, Jaime; Sánchez-Fernández, Antonio

2014-10-20

Polypropylene composites with different filler contents were prepared by creating a masterbatch containing 3 wt%. filler. A variety of silanol groups were used to synthetized three compounds in different media trough a sol-gel process with acetic acid, formic acid and ammonium hydroxide as catalysts. Besides, four different nanotubular fillers were also used to analyze their behavior and compare it with the effect caused by the silanol groups. These tubular structures comprise: unmodified halloysite, carbon nanotubes and functionalized halloysite and carbon nanotubes. Morphological characterization in SEM and STEM/TEM showed dispersion in the polypropylene matrix. According to TGA and DSC measurements thermal behavior remain similar for all the composites. Mechanical test in tension demonstrate that modulus of the composites increases for all samples with a major impact for materials containing silanol groups synthetized in formic acid. Rheological measurements show a significantly increment in viscosity for samples containing unmodified and modified carbon nanotubes. No difference was found for samples containing silanol groups and halloysite when compared to neat polypropylene. Finally, the oxygen transmission rate increased for all samples showing high barrier properties only for samples containing natural and functionalized halloysite nanotubes.

Interhemispheric gene expression differences in the cerebral cortex of humans and macaque monkeys.

PubMed

Muntané, Gerard; Santpere, Gabriel; Verendeev, Andrey; Seeley, William W; Jacobs, Bob; Hopkins, William D; Navarro, Arcadi; Sherwood, Chet C

2017-09-01

Handedness and language are two well-studied examples of asymmetrical brain function in humans. Approximately 90% of humans exhibit a right-hand preference, and the vast majority shows left-hemisphere dominance for language function. Although genetic models of human handedness and language have been proposed, the actual gene expression differences between cerebral hemispheres in humans remain to be fully defined. In the present study, gene expression profiles were examined in both hemispheres of three cortical regions involved in handedness and language in humans and their homologues in rhesus macaques: ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior superior temporal cortex (STC), and primary motor cortex. Although the overall pattern of gene expression was very similar between hemispheres in both humans and macaques, weighted gene correlation network analysis revealed gene co-expression modules associated with hemisphere, which are different among the three cortical regions examined. Notably, a receptor-enriched gene module in STC was particularly associated with hemisphere and showed different expression levels between hemispheres only in humans.

How to Be Proactive About Interference: Lessons From Animal Memory

PubMed Central

Wright, Anthony A.; Katz, Jeffrey S.; Ma, Wei Ji

2015-01-01

Processes of proactive interference were explored using the pigeon as a model system of memory. This study shows that proactive interference extends back in time at least 16 trials (and as many minutes), revealing a continuum of interference and providing a framework for studying memory. Pigeons were tested in a delayed same/different task containing trial-unique pictures. On interference trials, sample pictures from previous trials reappeared as test pictures on different trials. Proactive-interference functions showed greatest interference from the most recent trial and with the longer of two delays (10 s vs. 1 s). These interference functions are accounted for by a time-estimation model based on signal detection theory. The model predicts that accuracy at test is determined solely by the ratio of the elapsed time since the offset of the current-trial sample to the elapsed time since the offset of the interfering sample. Implications for comparing memory of different species and different types of memory (e.g., familiarity vs. recollection) are discussed. PMID:22491142

How to be proactive about interference: lessons from animal memory.

PubMed

Wright, Anthony A; Katz, Jeffrey S; Ma, Wei Ji

2012-05-01

Processes of proactive interference were explored using the pigeon as a model system of memory. This study shows that proactive interference extends back in time at least 16 trials (and as many minutes), revealing a continuum of interference and providing a framework for studying memory. Pigeons were tested in a delayed same/different task containing trial-unique pictures. On interference trials, sample pictures from previous trials reappeared as test pictures on different trials. Proactive-interference functions showed greatest interference from the most recent trial and with the longer of two delays (10 s vs. 1 s). These interference functions are accounted for by a time-estimation model based on signal detection theory. The model predicts that accuracy at test is determined solely by the ratio of the elapsed time since the offset of the current-trial sample to the elapsed time since the offset of the interfering sample. Implications for comparing memory of different species and different types of memory (e.g., familiarity vs. recollection) are discussed.

Gender-based Differential Item Functioning in the Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior for the Study of Entrepreneurial Intentions

PubMed Central

Zampetakis, Leonidas A.; Bakatsaki, Maria; Litos, Charalambos; Kafetsios, Konstantinos G.; Moustakis, Vassilis

2017-01-01

Over the past years the percentage of female entrepreneurs has increased, yet it is still far below of that for males. Although various attempts have been made to explain differences in mens’ and women’s entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, the extent to which those differences are due to self-report biases has not been yet considered. The present study utilized Differential Item Functioning (DIF) to compare men and women’s reporting on entrepreneurial intentions. DIF occurs in situations where members of different groups show differing probabilities of endorsing an item despite possessing the same level of the ability that the item is intended to measure. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study investigated whether constructs such as entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms and intention would show gender differences and whether these gender differences could be explained by DIF. Using DIF methods on a dataset of 1800 Greek participants (50.4% female) indicated that differences at the item-level are almost non-existent. Moreover, the differential test functioning (DTF) analysis, which allows assessing the overall impact of DIF effects with all items being taken into account simultaneously, suggested that the effect of DIF across all the items for each scale was negligible. Future research should consider that measurement invariance can be assumed when using TPB constructs for the study of entrepreneurial motivation independent of gender. PMID:28386244

Gender-based Differential Item Functioning in the Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior for the Study of Entrepreneurial Intentions.

PubMed

Zampetakis, Leonidas A; Bakatsaki, Maria; Litos, Charalambos; Kafetsios, Konstantinos G; Moustakis, Vassilis

2017-01-01

Over the past years the percentage of female entrepreneurs has increased, yet it is still far below of that for males. Although various attempts have been made to explain differences in mens' and women's entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, the extent to which those differences are due to self-report biases has not been yet considered. The present study utilized Differential Item Functioning (DIF) to compare men and women's reporting on entrepreneurial intentions. DIF occurs in situations where members of different groups show differing probabilities of endorsing an item despite possessing the same level of the ability that the item is intended to measure. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study investigated whether constructs such as entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms and intention would show gender differences and whether these gender differences could be explained by DIF. Using DIF methods on a dataset of 1800 Greek participants (50.4% female) indicated that differences at the item-level are almost non-existent. Moreover, the differential test functioning (DTF) analysis, which allows assessing the overall impact of DIF effects with all items being taken into account simultaneously, suggested that the effect of DIF across all the items for each scale was negligible. Future research should consider that measurement invariance can be assumed when using TPB constructs for the study of entrepreneurial motivation independent of gender.

Utilizing Functionalized Nano-Paterned Surfaces as a clue to Cell Metastasis in Prostate and Breast Cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthews, James; Bastatas, Lyndon

2012-03-01

There is a direct relation between the survival of a patient diagnosed with prostate or breast cancer and the metastatic potential of the patient's cancer. It is therefore extremely important to prognose metastatic potentials. In this study we investigated whether the behaviors of cancer cells responding to our state of the art nano-patterns differ by the metastatic potential of the cancer cells. We have used lowly (LNCaP) and highly (CL-1) metastatic human prostate cancer cells and lowly (MCF-7) and highly (MB231) metastatic breast cancer cells. A surface functionalization study was then performed first on uniform gold and glass surfaces, then on gold nano-patterned surfaces made by nano-sphere lithography using nano-spheres in diameter of 200nm to 800nm. The gold surfaces were functionalized with fibronectin (FN) and confirmed through XPS analysis. The CL-1, MCF-7, and MB231 cells show similar proliferation on all surfaces regardless of the presence of FN, whereas LNCaP show a clear preference for FN coated surfaces. The proliferation of the LNCaP was reduced when grown on finer nano-scaffolds, but the more aggressive CL-1, MB231, and MCF-7 cells show an abnormal proliferation regardless of pattern size. The difference in adhesion is intrinsic and was verified through dual fluorescent imaging. Clear co-localization of actin-vinculin were found on CL-1, MCF-7, and MB231. However LNCaP cells showed the co-localization only on the tips of the cells. These results provide vital clues to the bio-mechanical differences between the cancer cells with different metastatic potential.

Cognitive load and autonomic response patterns under negative priming demand in depersonalization-derealization disorder.

PubMed

Lemche, Erwin; Sierra-Siegert, Mauricio; David, Anthony S; Phillips, Mary L; Gasston, David; Williams, Steven C R; Giampietro, Vincent P

2016-04-01

Previous studies have yielded evidence for cognitive processing abnormalities and alterations of autonomic functioning in depersonalization-derealization disorder (DPRD). However, multimodal neuroimaging and psychophysiology studies have not yet been conducted to test for functional and effective connectivity under cognitive stress in patients with DPRD. DPRD and non-referred control subjects underwent a combined Stroop/negative priming task, and the neural correlates of Stroop interference effect, negative priming effect, error rates, cognitive load span and average amplitude of skin conductance responses were ascertained for both groups. Evoked haemodynamic responses for basic Stroop/negative priming activations were compared. For basic Stroop to neutral contrast, patients with DPRD differed in the location (inferior vs. superior lobule) of the parietal region involved, but showed similar activations in the left frontal region. In addition, patients with DPRD also co-activated the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (BA9) and posterior cingulate cortex (BA31), which were also found to be the main between-group difference regions. These regions furthermore showed connectivity with frequency of depersonalization states. Evoked haemodynamic responses drawn from regions of interest indicated significant between-group differences in 30-40% of time points. Brain-behaviour correlations differed mainly in laterality, yet only slightly in regions. A reversal of autonomic patterning became evident in patients with DPRD for cognitive load spans, indicating less effective arousal suppression under cognitive stress - patients with DPRD showed positive associations of cognitive load with autonomic responses, whereas controls exhibit respective inverse association. Overall, the results of the present study show only minor executive cognitive peculiarities, but further support the notion of abnormalities in autonomic functioning in patients with DPRD. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Amygdala and whole-brain activity to emotional faces distinguishes major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Fournier, Jay C; Keener, Matthew T; Almeida, Jorge; Kronhaus, Dina M; Phillips, Mary L

2013-11-01

It can be clinically difficult to distinguish depressed individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). To examine potential biomarkers of difference between the two disorders, the current study examined differences in the functioning of emotion-processing neural regions during a dynamic emotional faces task. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, healthy control adults (HC) (n = 29) and depressed adults with MDD (n = 30) and BD (n = 22) performed an implicit emotional-faces task in which they identified a color label superimposed on neutral faces that dynamically morphed into one of four emotional faces (angry, fearful, sad, happy). We compared neural activation between the groups in an amygdala region-of-interest and at the whole-brain level. Adults with MDD showed significantly greater activity than adults with BD in the left amygdala to the anger condition (p = 0.01). Results of whole-brain analyses (at p < 0.005, k ≥ 20) revealed that adults with BD showed greater activity to sad faces in temporoparietal regions, primarily in the left hemisphere, whereas individuals with MDD demonstrated greater activity than those with BD to displays of anger, fear, and happiness. Many of the observed BD-MDD differences represented abnormalities in functioning compared to HC. We observed a dissociation between depressed adults with BD and MDD in the processing of emerging emotional faces. Those with BD showed greater activity during mood-congruent (i.e., sad) faces, whereas those with MDD showed greater activity for mood-incongruent (i.e., fear, anger, and happy) faces. Such findings may reflect markers of differences between BD and MDD depression in underlying pathophysiological processes. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of age and gender on neural networks of motor response inhibition: from adolescence to mid-adulthood.

PubMed

Rubia, Katya; Lim, Lena; Ecker, Christine; Halari, Rozmin; Giampietro, Vincent; Simmons, Andrew; Brammer, Michael; Smith, Anna

2013-12-01

Functional inhibitory neural networks mature progressively with age. However, nothing is known about the impact of gender on their development. This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the effects of age, sex, and sex by age interactions on the brain activation of 63 healthy males and females, between 13 and 38 years, performing a Stop task. Increasing age was associated with progressively increased activation in typical response inhibition areas of right inferior and dorsolateral prefrontal and temporo-parietal regions. Females showed significantly enhanced activation in left inferior and superior frontal and striatal regions relative to males, while males showed increased activation relative to females in right inferior and superior parietal areas. Importantly, left frontal and striatal areas that showed increased activation in females, also showed significantly increased functional maturation in females relative to males, while the right inferior parietal activation that was increased in males showed significantly increased functional maturation relative to females. The findings demonstrate for the first time that sex-dimorphic activation patterns of enhanced left fronto-striatal activation in females and enhanced right parietal activation in males during motor inhibition appear to be the result of underlying gender differences in the functional maturation of these brain regions. © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On hemispheric differences in evoked potentials to speech stimuli

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galambos, R.; Benson, P.; Smith, T. S.; Schulman-Galambos, C.; Osier, H.

1975-01-01

Confirmation is provided for the belief that evoked potentials may reflect differences in hemispheric functioning that are marginal at best. Subjects were right-handed and audiologically normal men and women, and responses were recorded using standard EEG techniques. Subjects were instructed to listen for the targets while laying in a darkened sound booth. Different stimuli, speech and tone signals, were used. Speech sounds were shown to evoke a response pattern that resembles that to tone or clicks. Analysis of variances on peak amplitude and latency measures showed no significant differences between hemispheres, however, a Wilcoxon test showed significant differences in hemispheres for certain target tasks.

Evaluation of renal function in patients with a main renal stone larger than 1 cm and perioperative renal functional change in minimally invasive renal stone surgery: a prospective, observational study.

PubMed

Piao, Songzhe; Park, Juhyun; Son, Hwancheol; Jeong, Hyeon; Cho, Sung Yong

2016-05-01

To compare the perioperative relative renal function and determine predictors of deterioration and recovery of separate renal function in patients with renal stones >10 mm and who underwent mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy or retrograde intra-renal surgery. A main stone >10 mm or stones growing, high-risk stone formers and extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy-resistant stones were prospectively included in 148 patients. Patients with bilateral renal stones and anatomical deformities were excluded. Renal function was evaluated by estimated glomerular filtration rate, 99m-technetium dimercaptosuccinic acid and 99m-technetium diethylenetriamine pentaacetate prior to intervention and at postoperative 3 months. Logistic regression analyses were performed to find predictors of functional deterioration and recovery. The overall stone-free rate was 85.1 %. A third of patients (53/148, 35.8 %) with renal stones >10 mm showed deterioration of separate renal function. Mean renal function of operative sites showed 58.2 % (36.8 %/63.2 %) of that of contralateral sites in these patients. Abnormal separate renal function showed postoperative recovery in 31 patients (58.5 %). Three cases (5.7 %) showed deterioration of separate renal function despite no presence of remnant stones. Improvement rates of the abnormal separate renal function did not differ according to the type of surgery. The presence of hydronephrosis and three or more stones were significant predictors for renal function deterioration. Female gender and three or more stones were significantly correlated with postoperative recovery. Mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy or retrograde intra-renal surgery was effective and safe for renal function preservation. Patients with multiple large stones should be considered for candidates of active surgical removal.

Influence of different positive emotions on persuasion processing: a functional evolutionary approach.

PubMed

Griskevicius, Vladas; Shiota, Michelle N; Neufeld, Samantha L

2010-04-01

Much research has found that positive affect facilitates increased reliance on heuristics in cognition. However, theories proposing distinct evolutionary fitness-enhancing functions for specific positive emotions also predict important differences among the consequences of different positive emotion states. Two experiments investigated how six positive emotions influenced the processing of persuasive messages. Using different methods to induce emotions and assess processing, we showed that the positive emotions of anticipatory enthusiasm, amusement, and attachment love tended to facilitate greater acceptance of weak persuasive messages (consistent with previous research), whereas the positive emotions of awe and nurturant love reduced persuasion by weak messages. In addition, a series of mediation analyses suggested that the effects distinguishing different positive emotions from a neutral control condition were best accounted for by different mediators rather than by one common mediator. These findings build upon approaches that link affective valence to certain types of processing, documenting emotion-specific effects on cognition that are consistent with functional evolutionary accounts of discrete positive emotions. Copyright 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Comparison of the effect of different modalities of physical exercise on functionality and anthropometric measurements in community-dwelling older women.

PubMed

Vasconcelos, Ana Paula Sena Lomba; Cardozo, Diogo Correia; Lucchetti, Alessandra Lamas Granero; Lucchetti, Giancarlo

2016-10-01

The present study aims to assess the effect of different modalities of physical exercises ("Functional Gymnastics"-FG, "Resistance Training"-RT and "Pilates combined with Hydrogymnastics"-PCH) on functional capacity and anthropometric measurements of 148 older women (60 years old or more). A comparative observational study was conducted. Functional and anthropometric measurements were assessed at baseline and after 16 weeks. All groups assessed showed significant changes between baseline and post-training. On the comparison of pre and post-training, differences in anthropometric measurements but not in functional test performance were found. The PCH had greater weight loss compared to the FG and RT, reduction in BMI compared to the FG and RT; reduction in waist compared to the FG and RT, and in hip compared to the RT. Although all groups improved, Pilates/Hydrogymnastics combination was more strongly associated with reductions in weight, BMI, waist and hip measurements but not functionality, than other modalities. These results highlight the role of combination physical exercise training in older women. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The synergic effects of mirror therapy and neuromuscular electrical stimulation for hand function in stroke patients.

PubMed

Yun, Gi Jeong; Chun, Min Ho; Park, Ji Young; Kim, Bo Ryun

2011-06-01

To investigate the synergic effects of mirror therapy and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for hand function in stroke patients. Sixty patients with hemiparesis after stroke were included (41 males and 19 females, average age 63.3 years). Twenty patients had NMES applied and simultaneously underwent mirror therapy. Twenty patients had NMES applied only, and twenty patients underwent mirror therapy only. Each treatment was done five days per week, 30 minutes per day, for three weeks. NMES was applied on the surface of the extensor digitorum communis and extensor pollicis brevis for open-hand motion. Muscle tone, Fugl-Meyer assessment, and power of wrist and hand were evaluated before and after treatment. There were significant improvements in the Fugl-Meyer assessment score in the wrist, hand and coordination, as well as power of wrist and hand in all groups after treatment. The mirror and NMES group showed significant improvements in the Fugl-Meyer scores of hand, wrist, coordination and power of hand extension compared to the other groups. However, the power of hand flexion, wrist flexion, and wrist extension showed no significant differences among the three groups. Muscle tone also showed no significant differences in the three groups. Our results showed that there is a synergic effect of mirror therapy and NMES on hand function. Therefore, a hand rehabilitation strategy combined with NMES and mirror therapy may be more helpful for improving hand function in stroke patients than NMES or mirror therapy only.

Double dissociation of social functioning in frontotemporal dementia

PubMed Central

Rankin, Katherine P.; Kramer, Joel H.; Mychack, Paula; Miller, Bruce L.

2009-01-01

Background Efforts to characterize changes in social functioning in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have failed to elicit clear dissociation between frontal and temporal variants of the disease based on behavioral measures. Methods This study obtained premorbid and current first-degree relative ratings using an established measure of interpersonal functioning, the Interpersonal Adjectives Scales, to measure personality change in 16 patients with frontal variant (FLV) and 13 with temporal variant (TLV) FTD, and in a control group of 16 patients with AD. Results All three groups showed significant change over time in multiple domains, including increased introversion (FG) and submissiveness (HI). However, patients with both FTD subtypes evidenced significantly greater increases in overall interpersonal pathology vector length [VL] than did patients with AD, who remained within the normal range on all scores. Patients with FLV showed a 2 SD increase in submissiveness (HI), but their cold-heartedness (DE) change scores were not significantly different from those of patients with AD. Conversely, the TLV cold-heartedness (DE) score increased 2 SD compared to minimal change for the AD and FLV groups, yet change in submissiveness (HI) did not differentiate between AD and TLV groups. Conclusions The Interpersonal Adjectives Scales differentiated both FTD groups from patients with AD on the basis of both degree and direction of personality change. Also, the two subtypes of FTD showed distinctly different patterns of change in social functioning: patients with temporal variant shifted toward severe interpersonal coldness with mild loss of dominance, whereas patients with frontal variant showed the opposite pattern. PMID:12552042

Olfactory Function is Associated with Cognitive Performance: Results of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.

PubMed

Tebrügge, Sarah; Winkler, Angela; Gerards, Diana; Weimar, Christian; Moebus, Susanne; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Erbel, Raimund; Jokisch, Martha

2018-01-01

There is strong evidence for an association of olfactory dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases. Studies on the association of olfaction and cognition in the general population are rare. To evaluate gender- and age-specific associations of olfactory function and cognitive performance in a well characterized population-based study sample. At the third examination of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (n = 3,087), 2,640 participants (48% men; 68.2±7.2 years) underwent Sniffin' Sticks Screening Test measuring olfactory function on a scale of 0-12 points. Olfactory function was rated as anosmic, hyposmic, or normosmic (≤6, 7-10 or ≥11 points, respectively). All participants performed eight validated cognitive subtests. Age- (55-64 years, 65-74 years, 75-86 years) and gender-stratified multivariate analysis of covariance was used to evaluate group differences in cognitive performance. Women showed better olfactory function than men (p < 0.001). For middle-aged participants, olfactory groups differed in almost all cognitive subtests. The analyses revealed no gender effects, although associations were slightly greater for women than for men. Anosmics showed the worst cognitive performance and normosmics showed the best cognitive performance. In the young- and old-aged groups, a quantitative association was found for anosmics in all subtests and for normosmics and hyposmics in almost all subtests. This is the first study reporting on age-specific associations of olfactory function and cognitive performance in the general population. The association found in middle-aged participants (65-74 years) may serve as a marker to improve identification of persons at high risk for cognitive decline and dementia.

Theory of Mind and social functioning in schizophrenia: correlation with figurative language abnormalities, clinical symptoms and general intelligence.

PubMed

Piovan, Cristiano; Gava, Laura; Campeol, Mara

2016-01-01

Over past few decades, studies displayed Theory of Mind (ToM) as a system, including cognitive and affective features, rather than an unitary process. Within domains defining social cognition, ToM stands for the best predictor of poor social functioning in schizophrenia. The current study aimed to explore competence in ToM tasks, in metaphorical and idiomatic language identification tasks and in a conversational rules observance test, as well as relationship with social functioning, in a group of outpatients suffering from schizophrenia. METHODS.: 30 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 24 healthy subjects have been recruited. Both groups underwent TIB as premorbid IQ evaluation, PANSS, Theory of Mind Picture Sequencing Task, a metaphors and idiomatic expressions comprehension test and a conversational test. Social functioning was assessed with PSP. Results.Mean values of premorbid IQ showed no significant difference between patients and control group. In ToM and pragmatic competence tasks, differences between groups resulted in high significance, due to patients' lower performance. A correlation between metaphors and idiomatic expressions comprehension and second order false beliefs was detected. PSP showed a correlation with PANSS and cognitive-ToM, whereas leaving aside affective-ToM. Results showed how people affected with schizophrenia, in stable clinical condition, do have clear impairments in ToM and figurative language comprehension assignments. In our theoretical framework, correlation arisen between cognitive-ToM, pragmatic deficits, clinical status and social functioning level suggests usefulness of rehabilitative interventions to recover metacognitive functions and pragmatic abilities, in order to reduce social disability in schizophrenia.

Functioning in everyday life after stroke: a longitudinal study of elderly people receiving rehabilitation at home.

PubMed

Ekstam, Lisa; Uppgard, Brittmari; von Koch, Lena; Tham, Kerstin

2007-12-01

There is a need to identify different rehabilitation needs over time among individuals with stroke in order to implement client-centred rehabilitation interventions after stroke. The objective of this research was to describe changes in some aspects of functioning and to explore the patterns of change in functioning in everyday life during the first year after stroke for elderly patients participating in rehabilitation at home. Patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria for a regular rehabilitation-at-home programme after stroke were considered for participation in this study. Twenty-seven elderly patients participated on four data collection occasions during the year immediately subsequent to a stroke. The mean age of the 27 participants was 78.8 years (SD = 5.9) and 67% of the participants were women. Data on certain aspects of functioning were collected and a person-oriented approach was used to describe the patterns in the change in functioning for individuals. Four different patterns were identified: (a) moderate change in functioning (n = 4), (b) minor change in functioning (n = 11), (c) minor change despite major life event (n = 7), (d) disrupted change in functioning (n = 5). The study group improved significantly in most aspects of functioning, but still, most participants (n = 20) showed dissatisfaction with life as a whole 12 months after their stroke. This study identified different patterns of change in functioning in everyday life. This knowledge should serve to help guide rehabilitation professionals in their assessment of clients' needs during different phases after stroke.

Reduction of cervical and respiratory muscle strength in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain and having moderate to severe disability.

PubMed

López-de-Uralde-Villanueva, Ibai; Sollano-Vallez, Ernesto; Del Corral, Tamara

2017-06-11

To investigate whether patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain and having moderate to severe disability have a greater cervical motor function impairment and respiratory disturbances compared with patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain having mild disability and asymptomatic subjects; and the association between these outcomes in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain and healthy controls. Cross-sectional study, 44 patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain and 31 healthy subjects participated. The neck disability index was used to divide the patients into 2 groups: 1) mild disability group (scores between 5 and 14 points); and 2) moderate to severe disability group (scores >14 points). Cervical motor function was measured by cervical range of motion, forward head posture, neck flexor, and extensor muscle strength. Respiratory function and maximum respiratory pressures were also measured. Statistically differences were found between the patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain having a moderate to severe disability and the asymptomatic subjects for cervical and respiratory muscle strength. Comparisons between chronic nonspecific neck pain and the asymptomatic groups showed differences for all the variables, except for forward head posture. The regression model determined that strength of cervical flexion explained 36.4 and 45.6% of the variance of maximum inspiratory pressures and maximum expiratory pressures, respectively. Only the chronic nonspecific neck pain group with moderate to severe disability showed differences compared with the healthy subjects. Neck muscle strength could be a good predictor of respiratory muscle function. Implications for rehabilitation Neck pain severity could be closely associated with decreased respiratory pressure in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain. These findings suggest a new therapeutic approach for patients with moderate to severe disability, such as respiratory muscle training. The regression models show that a simple measurement of neck muscle strength could provide a reasonably accurate prediction for the respiratory function of these patients. Hence, this could provide an easy tool to assess respiratory function to physiotherapists without the need for sophisticated instrumentation.

Curvature and frontier orbital energies in density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kronik, Leeor; Stein, Tamar; Autschbach, Jochen; Govind, Niranjan; Baer, Roi

2013-03-01

Perdew et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett 49, 1691 (1982)] discovered and proved two different properties of exact Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT): (i) The exact total energy versus particle number is a series of linear segments between integer electron points; (ii) Across an integer number of electrons, the exchange-correlation potential may ``jump'' by a constant, known as the derivative discontinuity (DD). Here, we show analytically that in both the original and the generalized Kohn-Sham formulation of DFT, the two are in fact two sides of the same coin. Absence of a derivative discontinuity necessitates deviation from piecewise linearity, and the latter can be used to correct for the former, thereby restoring the physical meaning of the orbital energies. Using selected small molecules, we show that this results in a simple correction scheme for any underlying functional, including semi-local and hybrid functionals as well as Hartree-Fock theory, suggesting a practical correction for the infamous gap problem of DFT. Moreover, we show that optimally-tuned range-separated hybrid functionals can inherently minimize both DD and curvature, thus requiring no correction, and show that this can be used as a sound theoretical basis for novel tuning strategies.

Sex differences in the neural correlates of affective experience

PubMed Central

Moriguchi, Yoshiya; Touroutoglou, Alexandra; Dickerson, Bradford C.

2014-01-01

People believe that women are more emotionally intense than men, but the scientific evidence is equivocal. In this study, we tested the novel hypothesis that men and women differ in the neural correlates of affective experience, rather than in the intensity of neural activity, with women being more internally (interoceptively) focused and men being more externally (visually) focused. Adult men (n = 17) and women (n = 17) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging study while viewing affectively potent images and rating their moment-to-moment feelings of subjective arousal. We found that men and women do not differ overall in their intensity of moment-to-moment affective experiences when viewing evocative images, but instead, as predicted, women showed a greater association between the momentary arousal ratings and neural responses in the anterior insula cortex, which represents bodily sensations, whereas men showed stronger correlations between their momentary arousal ratings and neural responses in the visual cortex. Men also showed enhanced functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior insula cortex and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which constitutes the circuitry involved with regulating shifts of attention to the world. These results demonstrate that the same affective experience is realized differently in different people, such that women’s feelings are relatively more self-focused, whereas men’s feelings are relatively more world-focused. PMID:23596188

Effects of Different Types of Cognitive Training on Cognitive Function, Brain Structure, and Driving Safety in Senior Daily Drivers: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Nozawa, Takayuki; Taki, Yasuyuki; Kanno, Akitake; Akimoto, Yoritaka; Ihara, Mizuki; Yokoyama, Ryoichi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nouchi, Rui; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto; Ogawa, Takeshi; Goto, Takakuni; Sunda, Takashi; Shimizu, Toshiyuki; Tozuka, Eiji; Hirose, Satoru; Nanbu, Tatsuyoshi; Kawashima, Ryuta

2015-01-01

Increasing proportion of the elderly in the driving population raises the importance of assuring their safety. We explored the effects of three different types of cognitive training on the cognitive function, brain structure, and driving safety of the elderly. Thirty-seven healthy elderly daily drivers were randomly assigned to one of three training groups: Group V trained in a vehicle with a newly developed onboard cognitive training program, Group P trained with a similar program but on a personal computer, and Group C trained to solve a crossword puzzle. Before and after the 8-week training period, they underwent neuropsychological tests, structural brain magnetic resonance imaging, and driving safety tests. For cognitive function, only Group V showed significant improvements in processing speed and working memory. For driving safety, Group V showed significant improvements both in the driving aptitude test and in the on-road evaluations. Group P showed no significant improvements in either test, and Group C showed significant improvements in the driving aptitude but not in the on-road evaluations. The results support the effectiveness of the onboard training program in enhancing the elderly's abilities to drive safely and the potential advantages of a multimodal training approach.

Neural correlates of working memory performance in primary insomnia.

PubMed

Drummond, Sean P A; Walker, Matthew; Almklov, Erin; Campos, Manuel; Anderson, Dane E; Straus, Laura D

2013-09-01

To examine neural correlates of working memory performance in patients with primary insomnia (PIs) compared with well-matched good sleepers (GSs). Twenty-five PIs and 25 GSs underwent functional MRI while performing an N-back working memory task. VA hospital sleep laboratory and University-based functional imaging center. 25 PIs, 25 GSs. N/A. Although PIs did not differ from GSs in cognitive performance, PIs showed the expected differences from GSs in both self-reported and objective sleep measures. PIs, relative to GSs, showed reduced activation of task-related working memory regions. This manifested both as an overall reduction in activation of task-related regions and specifically as reduced modulation of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with increasing task difficulty. Similarly, PIs showed reduced modulation (i.e., reduced deactivation) of default mode regions with increasing task difficulty, relative to GSs. However, PIs showed intact performance. These data establish a profile of abnormal neural function in primary insomnia, reflected both in reduced engagement of task-appropriate brain regions and an inability to modulate task-irrelevant (i.e., default mode) brain areas during working memory performance. These data have implications for better understanding the neuropathophysiology of the well established, yet little understood, discrepancy between ubiquitous subjective cognitive complaints in primary insomnia and the rarely found objective deficits during testing.

Effects of Different Types of Cognitive Training on Cognitive Function, Brain Structure, and Driving Safety in Senior Daily Drivers: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Taki, Yasuyuki; Kanno, Akitake; Akimoto, Yoritaka; Ihara, Mizuki; Yokoyama, Ryoichi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto; Ogawa, Takeshi; Goto, Takakuni; Sunda, Takashi; Shimizu, Toshiyuki; Tozuka, Eiji; Hirose, Satoru; Nanbu, Tatsuyoshi; Kawashima, Ryuta

2015-01-01

Background. Increasing proportion of the elderly in the driving population raises the importance of assuring their safety. We explored the effects of three different types of cognitive training on the cognitive function, brain structure, and driving safety of the elderly. Methods. Thirty-seven healthy elderly daily drivers were randomly assigned to one of three training groups: Group V trained in a vehicle with a newly developed onboard cognitive training program, Group P trained with a similar program but on a personal computer, and Group C trained to solve a crossword puzzle. Before and after the 8-week training period, they underwent neuropsychological tests, structural brain magnetic resonance imaging, and driving safety tests. Results. For cognitive function, only Group V showed significant improvements in processing speed and working memory. For driving safety, Group V showed significant improvements both in the driving aptitude test and in the on-road evaluations. Group P showed no significant improvements in either test, and Group C showed significant improvements in the driving aptitude but not in the on-road evaluations. Conclusion. The results support the effectiveness of the onboard training program in enhancing the elderly's abilities to drive safely and the potential advantages of a multimodal training approach. PMID:26161000

Comparison of the recovery patterns of language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke.

PubMed

Vukovic, Mile; Vuksanovic, Jasmina; Vukovic, Irena

2008-01-01

In this study we investigated the recovery patterns of language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. The correlation of specific language functions and cognitive functions was analyzed in the acute phase and 6 months later. Significant recovery of the tested functions was observed in both groups. However, in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits the degree of recovery of most language functions and some cognitive functions was higher. A significantly greater correlation was revealed within language and cognitive functions, as well as between language functions and other aspects of cognition in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits than in patients with aphasia following a stroke. Our results show that patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits have a different recovery pattern and a different pattern of correlation between language and cognitive functions compared to patients with aphasia following a stroke. (1) Better understanding of the differences in recovery of language and cognitive functions in patients who have suffered strokes and those who have experienced traumatic brain injury. (2) Better understanding of the relationship between language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. (3) Better understanding of the factors influencing recovery.

Sex differences in spatial ability: a lateralization of function approach.

PubMed

Rilea, Stacy L; Roskos-Ewoldsen, Beverly; Boles, David

2004-12-01

The current study was designed to examine whether the extent of the male advantage in performance on a spatial task was determined by the extent to which the task was right-hemisphere dependent. Participants included 108 right-handed men and women who completed the mental rotation, waterlevel, and paperfolding tasks, all of which were presented bilaterally. The results partially supported the hypothesis. On the mental rotation task, men showed a right-hemisphere advantage, whereas women showed no hemispheric differences; however, no overall sex differences were observed. On the waterlevel task, men outperformed women, and both men and women showed a right-hemisphere advantage. On the paperfolding task, no sex or hemispheric differences were observed. Although the findings of the current study were mixed, the study provides a framework for examining sex differences across different types of spatial ability.

Mountain torrents: Quantifying vulnerability and assessing uncertainties

PubMed Central

Totschnig, Reinhold; Fuchs, Sven

2013-01-01

Vulnerability assessment for elements at risk is an important component in the framework of risk assessment. The vulnerability of buildings affected by torrent processes can be quantified by vulnerability functions that express a mathematical relationship between the degree of loss of individual elements at risk and the intensity of the impacting process. Based on data from the Austrian Alps, we extended a vulnerability curve for residential buildings affected by fluvial sediment transport processes to other torrent processes and other building types. With respect to this goal to merge different data based on different processes and building types, several statistical tests were conducted. The calculation of vulnerability functions was based on a nonlinear regression approach applying cumulative distribution functions. The results suggest that there is no need to distinguish between different sediment-laden torrent processes when assessing vulnerability of residential buildings towards torrent processes. The final vulnerability functions were further validated with data from the Italian Alps and different vulnerability functions presented in the literature. This comparison showed the wider applicability of the derived vulnerability functions. The uncertainty inherent to regression functions was quantified by the calculation of confidence bands. The derived vulnerability functions may be applied within the framework of risk management for mountain hazards within the European Alps. The method is transferable to other mountain regions if the input data needed are available. PMID:27087696

Sexual-orientation-related differences in verbal fluency.

PubMed

Rahman, Qazi; Abrahams, Sharon; Wilson, Glenn D

2003-04-01

This study examined the performance of 60 heterosexual men, 60 gay men, 60 heterosexual women, and 60 lesbians on 3 tests of verbal fluency known to show gender differences: letter, category, and synonym fluency. Gay men and lesbians showed opposite-sex shifts in their profile of scores. For letter fluency, gay men outperformed all other groups; lesbians showed the lowest scores. For category fluency, gay men and heterosexual women jointly outperformed lesbians and heterosexual men. Finally, gay men outperformed all other groups on synonym fluency, whereas lesbians and heterosexual men performed similarly. A difference between heterosexual men and women was demonstrated on category and synonym fluency only. The findings implicate within-sex differences in the functioning of the prefrontal and temporal cortices.

Efficient multifeature index structures for music data retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Wegin; Chen, Arbee L. P.

1999-12-01

In this paper, we propose four index structures for music data retrieval. Based on suffix trees, we develop two index structures called combined suffix tree and independent suffix trees. These methods still show shortcomings for some search functions. Hence we develop another index, called Twin Suffix Trees, to overcome these problems. However, the Twin Suffix Trees lack of scalability when the amount of music data becomes large. Therefore we propose the fourth index, called Grid-Twin Suffix Trees, to provide scalability and flexibility for a large amount of music data. For each index, we can use different search functions, like exact search and approximate search, on different music features, like melody, rhythm or both. We compare the performance of the different search functions applied on each index structure by a series of experiments.

Amygdala subnuclei connectivity in response to violence reveals unique influences of individual differences in psychopathic traits in a non-forensic sample

PubMed Central

Yoder, Keith J.; Porges, Eric C.; Decety, Jean

2016-01-01

Atypical amygdala function and connectivity have reliably been associated with psychopathy. However, the amygdala is not a unitary structure. To examine how psychopathic traits in a non-forensic sample are linked to amygdala response to violence, the current study used probabilistic tractography to classify amygdala subnuclei based on anatomical projections to and from amygdala subnuclei in a group of 43 male participants. The segmentation identified the basolateral complex (BLA; lateral, basal, and accessory basal subnuclei) and the central subnucleus (CE), which were used as seeds in a functional connectivity analysis to identify differences in neuronal coupling specific to observed violence. While a full amygdala seed showed significant connectivity only to right middle occipital gyrus, subnuclei seeds revealed unique connectivity patterns. BLA showed enhanced coupling with anterior cingulate and prefrontal regions, while CE showed increased connectivity with the brainstem, but reduced connectivity with superior parietal and precentral gyrus. Further, psychopathic personality factors were related to specific patterns of connectivity. Fearless Dominance scores on the psychopathic personality inventory predicted increased coupling between the BLA seed and sensory integration cortices, and increased connectivity between the CE seed and posterior insula. Conversely, Self-Centered Impulsivity scores were negatively correlated with coupling between BLA and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and Coldheartedness scores predicted increased functional connectivity between BLA and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Taken together, these findings demonstrate how subnuclei segmentations reveal important functional connectivity differences that are otherwise inaccessible. Such an approach yields a better understanding of amygdala dysfunction in psychopathy. PMID:25557777

Inter-vender and test-retest reliabilities of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging: Implications for multi-center imaging studies.

PubMed

An, Hyeong Su; Moon, Won-Jin; Ryu, Jae-Kyun; Park, Ju Yeon; Yun, Won Sung; Choi, Jin Woo; Jahng, Geon-Ho; Park, Jang-Yeon

2017-12-01

This prospective multi-center study aimed to evaluate the inter-vendor and test-retest reliabilities of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) by assessing the temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) and functional connectivity. Study included 10 healthy subjects and each subject was scanned using three 3T MR scanners (GE Signa HDxt, Siemens Skyra, and Philips Achieva) in two sessions. The tSNR was calculated from the time course data. Inter-vendor and test-retest reliabilities were assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) derived from variant component analysis. Independent component analysis was performed to identify the connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN). In result, the tSNR for the DMN was not significantly different among the GE, Philips, and Siemens scanners (P=0.638). In terms of vendor differences, the inter-vendor reliability was good (ICC=0.774). Regarding the test-retest reliability, the GE scanner showed excellent correlation (ICC=0.961), while the Philips (ICC=0.671) and Siemens (ICC=0.726) scanners showed relatively good correlation. The DMN pattern of the subjects between the two sessions for each scanner and between three scanners showed the identical patterns of functional connectivity. The inter-vendor and test-retest reliabilities of RS-fMRI using different 3T MR scanners are good. Thus, we suggest that RS-fMRI could be used in multicenter imaging studies as a reliable imaging marker. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Behaviour planning and problem solving deficiencies in children with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from the Balobedu culture, Limpopo province, South Africa.

PubMed

Pila-Nemutandani, Refilwe Gloria; Meyer, Anneke

2016-07-01

To compare planning behaviour (frontal lobe functioning) in children with and without symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A total of 90 children (45 with symptoms of ADHD and 45 matched controls without ADHD symptoms) of both genders, who were medication naïve, from the Balobedu culture (Limpopo province, South Africa), aged 7-13 years, participated in the study. The performance of the two groups was compared on a test of planning and problem solving, the Tower of London (ToL) task. The results were analysed as a function of gender and ADHD subtype. The Finger Tapping test (testing fine motor skills) was used as a control test to verify that the expected differences were not due to poor motor skills. The children with ADHD symptoms scored significantly lower than the non-ADHD comparison group which indicated deficiency in frontal lobe functioning (p = 0.00). The difference in performance was not due to poor motor control (p = 0.70). Children with ADHD symptoms show deficits in behavioural planning which indicates impairment of functions of the frontal areas supplied by the mesocortical dopamine branch. More so than others, the ADHD Inattentive and Combined subtypes showed poor performance in the Tower of London task, indicating poor organisational and planning skills in these groups. The results also did show that the difference was not due to problems with motor control and that the ToL task is a culture-fair instrument for testing planning behaviour.

Amygdala subnuclei connectivity in response to violence reveals unique influences of individual differences in psychopathic traits in a nonforensic sample.

PubMed

Yoder, Keith J; Porges, Eric C; Decety, Jean

2015-04-01

Atypical amygdala function and connectivity have reliably been associated with psychopathy. However, the amygdala is not a unitary structure. To examine how psychopathic traits in a nonforensic sample are linked to amygdala response to violence, this study used probabilistic tractography to classify amygdala subnuclei based on anatomical projections to and from amygdala subnuclei in a group of 43 male participants. The segmentation identified the basolateral complex (BLA; lateral, basal, and accessory basal subnuclei) and the central subnucleus (CE), which were used as seeds in a functional connectivity analysis to identify differences in neuronal coupling specific to observed violence. While a full amygdala seed showed significant connectivity only to right middle occipital gyrus, subnuclei seeds revealed unique connectivity patterns. BLA showed enhanced coupling with anterior cingulate and prefrontal regions, while CE showed increased connectivity with the brainstem, but reduced connectivity with superior parietal and precentral gyrus. Further, psychopathic personality factors were related to specific patterns of connectivity. Fearless Dominance scores on the psychopathic personality inventory predicted increased coupling between the BLA seed and sensory integration cortices, and increased connectivity between the CE seed and posterior insula. Conversely, Self-Centered Impulsivity scores were negatively correlated with coupling between BLA and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and Coldheartedness scores predicted increased functional connectivity between BLA and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Taken together, these findings demonstrate how subnuclei segmentations reveal important functional connectivity differences that are otherwise inaccessible. Such an approach yields a better understanding of amygdala dysfunction in psychopathy. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Examining school-based hygiene facilities: a quantitative assessment in a Ghanaian municipality.

PubMed

Appiah-Brempong, Emmanuel; Harris, Muriel J; Newton, Samuel; Gulis, Gabriel

2018-05-02

The crucial role of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in influencing children's handwashing behaviour is widely reported. Report from UNICEF indicates a dearth of adequate data on WASH facilities in schools, especially in the developing world. This study sought to contribute to building the evidence-base on school hygiene facilities in Ghana. The study further explored for possible associations and differences between key variables within the context of school water, sanitation and hygiene. Data was collected from 37 junior high schools using an observational checklist. Methods of data analysis included a Scalogram model, Fisher's exact test, and a Student's t-test. Results of the study showed a facility deficiency in many schools: 33% of schools had students washing their hands in a shared receptacle (bowl), 24% had students using a single cotton towel to dry hands after handwashing, and only 16% of schools had a functional water facility. Furthermore, results of a proportion test indicated that 83% of schools which had functional water facilities also had functional handwashing stations. On the other hand, only 3% of schools which had functional water facilities also had a functional handwashing stations. A test of difference in the proportions of the two sets of schools showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). In addition, 40% of schools which had financial provisions for water supply also had functional handwashing stations. On the other hand, only 7% of schools which had financial provisions for water supply also had functional handwashing stations. There was a statistically significant difference in the proportions of the two sets of schools (p = 0.02). We conclude that it is essential to have a financial provision for water supply in schools as this can potentially influence the existence of a handwashing station in a school. An intervention by government, educational authorities and civil society organisations towards enabling schools in low resource areas to have a sustainable budgetary allocation for WASH facilities would be timely.

Structural and functional affection of the heart in protein energy malnutrition patients on admission and after nutritional recovery.

PubMed

El-Sayed, H L; Nassar, M F; Habib, N M; Elmasry, O A; Gomaa, S M

2006-04-01

The pathogenesis of different malnutrition diseases was suggested to affect the heart. This study was designed to detect cardiac affection in protein energy malnutrition (PEM) patients, whether clinically or by electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiogram, and to assess the value of the cardiac marker troponin I in patients at risk of myocardial injury with special emphasis on the effect of nutritional rehabilitation. The present study was carried out on 30 PEM infants (16 nonedematous - 14 edematous) and 10 apparently healthy age and sex-matched infants acting as the control group. All studied infants were subjected to full history taking laying stress on dietetic history, thorough clinical and anthropometric measurements. Echocardiography and ECG were also performed. Laboratory investigations were performed including complete blood count, CRP, total proteins, albumin, liver and kidney functions as well as estimation of troponin-I in blood by immulite. Following initial evaluation, all malnourished infants were subjected to nutritional rehabilitation program for approximately 8 weeks, after which the patients were re-evaluated using the same preinterventional parameters. The results of the present study demonstrated that electrical properties of myocardium assessed by ECG showed significant decrease of R wave and QTc interval in patients compared to controls with significant improvement after nutritional rehabilitation. Echocardigraphic changes showed that cardiac mass index was significantly lower in both groups of malnourished cases compared to the controls with significant increase after nutritional rehabilitation. The study showed that the parameters of left ventricular (LV) systolic function which are the ejection fraction, fractional shortening and velocity of circumferential fiber shortening were not significantly reduced in patients compared to the controls. The diastolic function also showed no significant difference in the E wave/A wave (e/a) ratio between patients and controls. However, the systolic time interval showed significantly higher LV pre-ejection index in patients in comparison to controls. Edematous and nonedematous cases did not show any significant differences in ECG and echocardigraphic data before or after nutritional rehabilitation. The hearts of two severely affected patients uniquely demonstrated marked decrease of LV end diastolic diameter (LEVDd) together with the detection of troponin-I in their sera. We can conclude that malnutrition, regardless of its type, has a definite effect on cardiac volume, muscle mass, as well as the electrical properties of the myocardium. The systolic functions of the heart are affected more than the diastolic functions and this affection becomes manifest only in severe cases and may constitute a bad prognostic parameter thus necessitating more intense management and strict follow-up of such cases.

Functional annotation of the vlinc class of non-coding RNAs using systems biology approach.

PubMed

St Laurent, Georges; Vyatkin, Yuri; Antonets, Denis; Ri, Maxim; Qi, Yao; Saik, Olga; Shtokalo, Dmitry; de Hoon, Michiel J L; Kawaji, Hideya; Itoh, Masayoshi; Lassmann, Timo; Arner, Erik; Forrest, Alistair R R; Nicolas, Estelle; McCaffrey, Timothy A; Carninci, Piero; Hayashizaki, Yoshihide; Wahlestedt, Claes; Kapranov, Philipp

2016-04-20

Functionality of the non-coding transcripts encoded by the human genome is the coveted goal of the modern genomics research. While commonly relied on the classical methods of forward genetics, integration of different genomics datasets in a global Systems Biology fashion presents a more productive avenue of achieving this very complex aim. Here we report application of a Systems Biology-based approach to dissect functionality of a newly identified vast class of very long intergenic non-coding (vlinc) RNAs. Using highly quantitative FANTOM5 CAGE dataset, we show that these RNAs could be grouped into 1542 novel human genes based on analysis of insulators that we show here indeed function as genomic barrier elements. We show that vlinc RNAs genes likely function in cisto activate nearby genes. This effect while most pronounced in closely spaced vlinc RNA-gene pairs can be detected over relatively large genomic distances. Furthermore, we identified 101 vlinc RNA genes likely involved in early embryogenesis based on patterns of their expression and regulation. We also found another 109 such genes potentially involved in cellular functions also happening at early stages of development such as proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Overall, we show that Systems Biology-based methods have great promise for functional annotation of non-coding RNAs. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Disrupted functional connectivity patterns of the insula subregions in drug-free major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Wang, Chao; Wu, Huawang; Chen, Fangfang; Xu, Jinping; Li, Hongming; Li, Hong; Wang, Jiaojian

2018-07-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by impairments in emotional and cognitive functions. Emerging studies have shown that cognition and emotion interact by reaching identical brain regions, and the insula is one such region with functional and structural heterogeneity. Although previous literatures have shown the role of insula in MDD，it remains unclear whether the insular subregions show differential change patterns in MDD. Using the resting-state fMRI data in a group of 23 drug-free MDD patients and 34 healthy controls (HCs), we investigated whether the abnormal connectivity patterns of insular sub-regions or any behavioural correlates can be detected in MDD. Further hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify the functional connectivity-clustering patterns of insular sub-regions. Compared with HCs, the MDD exhibited higher connectivities between dorsal agranular insula and inferior parietal lobule and between ventral dysgranular and granular insula and thalamus/habehula, and lower connectivity of hypergranular insula to subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, the three subregions with significant group differences were in three separate functional systems along anterior-to-posteior gradient. The anterior and middle insula showed positive correlation with depressive severity, while the posterior insular was to the contrary. The small and unbalanced sample size, only included moderate and severe depression and the possible inter-individual differences may limit the interpretability. These findings provided evidences for the MDD-related effects in functional connectivity patterns of insular subregions, and revealed that the subregions might be involved in different neural circuits associated with the contrary impacts on the depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does the use of Nintendo Wii SportsTM improve arm function? Trial of WiiTM in Stroke: a randomized controlled trial and economics analysis.

PubMed

Adie, Katja; Schofield, Christine; Berrow, Margie; Wingham, Jennifer; Humfryes, John; Pritchard, Colin; James, Martin; Allison, Rhoda

2017-02-01

The Trial of Wii™ in Stroke investigated the efficacy of using the Nintendo Wii Sports™ (Wii TM ) to improve affected arm function after stroke. Multicentre, pragmatic, parallel group, randomized controlled trial. Home-based rehabilitation. A total of 240 participants aged 24-90 years with arm weakness following a stroke within the previous six months. Participants were randomly assigned to exercise daily for six weeks using the Wii TM or arm exercises at home. Primary outcome was change in the affected arm function at six weeks follow-up using the Action Research Arm Test. Secondary outcomes included occupational performance, quality of life, arm function at six months and a cost effectiveness analysis. The study was completed by 209 participants (87.1%). There was no significant difference in the primary outcome of affected arm function at six weeks follow-up (mean difference -1.7, 95% CI -3.9 to 0.5, p = 0.12) and no significant difference in secondary outcomes, including occupational performance, quality of life or arm function at six months, between the two groups. No serious adverse events related to the study treatment were reported. The cost effectiveness analysis showed that the Wii TM was more expensive than arm exercises £1106 (SD 1656) vs. £730 (SD 829) (probability 0.866). The trial showed that the Wii TM was not superior to arm exercises in home-based rehabilitation for stroke survivors with arm weakness. The Wii TM was well tolerated but more expensive than arm exercises.

Differential and directional estrogenic signaling pathways induced by enterolignans and their precursors

PubMed Central

Zhu, Yun; Kawaguchi, Kayoko; Kiyama, Ryoiti

2017-01-01

Mammalian lignans or enterolignans are metabolites of plant lignans, an important category of phytochemicals. Although they are known to be associated with estrogenic activity, cell signaling pathways leading to specific cell functions, and especially the differences among lignans, have not been explored. We examined the estrogenic activity of enterolignans and their precursor plant lignans and cell signaling pathways for some cell functions, cell cycle and chemokine secretion. We used DNA microarray-based gene expression profiling in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells to examine the similarities, as well as the differences, among enterolignans, enterolactone and enterodiol, and their precursors, matairesinol, pinoresinol and sesamin. The profiles showed moderate to high levels of correlation (R values: 0.44 to 0.81) with that of estrogen (17β-estradiol or E2). Significant correlations were observed among lignans (R values: 0.77 to 0.97), and the correlations were higher for cell functions related to enzymes, signaling, proliferation and transport. All the enterolignans/precursors examined showed activation of the Erk1/2 and PI3K/Akt pathways, indicating the involvement of rapid signaling through the non-genomic estrogen signaling pathway. However, when their effects on specific cell functions, cell cycle progression and chemokine (MCP-1) secretion were examined, positive effects were observed only for enterolactone, suggesting that signals are given in certain directions at a position closer to cell functions. We hypothesized that, while estrogen signaling is initiated by the enterolignans/precursors examined, their signals are differentially and directionally modulated later in the pathways, resulting in the differences at the cell function level. PMID:28152041

Assessment of derelict soil quality: Abiotic, biotic and functional approaches.

PubMed

Vincent, Quentin; Auclerc, Apolline; Beguiristain, Thierry; Leyval, Corinne

2018-02-01

The intensification and subsequent closing down of industrial activities during the last century has left behind large surfaces of derelict lands. Derelict soils have low fertility, can be contaminated, and many of them remain unused. However, with the increasing demand of soil surfaces, they might be considered as a resource, for example for non-food biomass production. The study of their physico-chemical properties and of their biodiversity and biological activity may provide indications for their potential re-use. The objective of our study was to investigate the quality of six derelict soils, considering abiotic, biotic, and functional parameters. We studied (i) the soil bacteria, fungi, meso- and macro-fauna and plant communities of six different derelict soils (two from coking plants, one from a settling pond, two constructed ones made from different substrates and remediated soil, and an inert waste storage one), and (ii) their decomposition function based on the decomposer trophic network, enzyme activities, mineralization activity, and organic pollutant degradation. Biodiversity levels in these soils were high, but all biotic parameters, except the mycorrhizal colonization level, discriminated them. Multivariate analysis showed that biotic parameters co-varied more with fertility proxies than with soil contamination parameters. Similarly, functional parameters significantly co-varied with abiotic parameters. Among functional parameters, macro-decomposer proportion, enzyme activity, average mineralization capacity, and microbial polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degraders were useful to discriminate the soils. We assessed their quality by combining abiotic, biotic, and functional parameters: the compost-amended constructed soil displayed the highest quality, while the settling pond soil and the contaminated constructed soil displayed the lowest. Although differences among the soils were highlighted, this study shows that derelict soils may provide a biodiversity ecosystem service and are functional for decomposition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Functional connectivity and structural covariance between regions of interest can be measured more accurately using multivariate distance correlation.

PubMed

Geerligs, Linda; Cam-Can; Henson, Richard N

2016-07-15

Studies of brain-wide functional connectivity or structural covariance typically use measures like the Pearson correlation coefficient, applied to data that have been averaged across voxels within regions of interest (ROIs). However, averaging across voxels may result in biased connectivity estimates when there is inhomogeneity within those ROIs, e.g., sub-regions that exhibit different patterns of functional connectivity or structural covariance. Here, we propose a new measure based on "distance correlation"; a test of multivariate dependence of high dimensional vectors, which allows for both linear and non-linear dependencies. We used simulations to show how distance correlation out-performs Pearson correlation in the face of inhomogeneous ROIs. To evaluate this new measure on real data, we use resting-state fMRI scans and T1 structural scans from 2 sessions on each of 214 participants from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing & Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) project. Pearson correlation and distance correlation showed similar average connectivity patterns, for both functional connectivity and structural covariance. Nevertheless, distance correlation was shown to be 1) more reliable across sessions, 2) more similar across participants, and 3) more robust to different sets of ROIs. Moreover, we found that the similarity between functional connectivity and structural covariance estimates was higher for distance correlation compared to Pearson correlation. We also explored the relative effects of different preprocessing options and motion artefacts on functional connectivity. Because distance correlation is easy to implement and fast to compute, it is a promising alternative to Pearson correlations for investigating ROI-based brain-wide connectivity patterns, for functional as well as structural data. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A review of the ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations, using forests as a reference system.

PubMed

Dislich, Claudia; Keyel, Alexander C; Salecker, Jan; Kisel, Yael; Meyer, Katrin M; Auliya, Mark; Barnes, Andrew D; Corre, Marife D; Darras, Kevin; Faust, Heiko; Hess, Bastian; Klasen, Stephan; Knohl, Alexander; Kreft, Holger; Meijide, Ana; Nurdiansyah, Fuad; Otten, Fenna; Pe'er, Guy; Steinebach, Stefanie; Tarigan, Suria; Tölle, Merja H; Tscharntke, Teja; Wiegand, Kerstin

2017-08-01

Oil palm plantations have expanded rapidly in recent decades. This large-scale land-use change has had great ecological, economic, and social impacts on both the areas converted to oil palm and their surroundings. However, research on the impacts of oil palm cultivation is scattered and patchy, and no clear overview exists. We address this gap through a systematic and comprehensive literature review of all ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations, including several (genetic, medicinal and ornamental resources, information functions) not included in previous systematic reviews. We compare ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations to those in forests, as the conversion of forest to oil palm is prevalent in the tropics. We find that oil palm plantations generally have reduced ecosystem functioning compared to forests: 11 out of 14 ecosystem functions show a net decrease in level of function. Some functions show decreases with potentially irreversible global impacts (e.g. reductions in gas and climate regulation, habitat and nursery functions, genetic resources, medicinal resources, and information functions). The most serious impacts occur when forest is cleared to establish new plantations, and immediately afterwards, especially on peat soils. To variable degrees, specific plantation management measures can prevent or reduce losses of some ecosystem functions (e.g. avoid illegal land clearing via fire, avoid draining of peat, use of integrated pest management, use of cover crops, mulch, and compost) and we highlight synergistic mitigation measures that can improve multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously. The only ecosystem function which increases in oil palm plantations is, unsurprisingly, the production of marketable goods. Our review highlights numerous research gaps. In particular, there are significant gaps with respect to socio-cultural information functions. Further, there is a need for more empirical data on the importance of spatial and temporal scales, such as differences among plantations in different environments, of different sizes, and of different ages, as our review has identified examples where ecosystem functions vary spatially and temporally. Finally, more research is needed on developing management practices that can offset the losses of ecosystem functions. Our findings should stimulate research to address the identified gaps, and provide a foundation for more systematic research and discussion on ways to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the positive impacts of oil palm cultivation. © 2016 The Authors. Biological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Gender differences in autobiographical memory for everyday events: retrieval elicited by SenseCam images versus verbal cues.

PubMed

St Jacques, Peggy L; Conway, Martin A; Cabeza, Roberto

2011-10-01

Gender differences are frequently observed in autobiographical memory (AM). However, few studies have investigated the neural basis of potential gender differences in AM. In the present functional MRI (fMRI) study we investigated gender differences in AMs elicited using dynamic visual images vs verbal cues. We used a novel technology called a SenseCam, a wearable device that automatically takes thousands of photographs. SenseCam differs considerably from other prospective methods of generating retrieval cues because it does not disrupt the ongoing experience. This allowed us to control for potential gender differences in emotional processing and elaborative rehearsal, while manipulating how the AMs were elicited. We predicted that males would retrieve more richly experienced AMs elicited by the SenseCam images vs the verbal cues, whereas females would show equal sensitivity to both cues. The behavioural results indicated that there were no gender differences in subjective ratings of reliving, importance, vividness, emotion, and uniqueness, suggesting that gender differences in brain activity were not due to differences in these measures of phenomenological experience. Consistent with our predictions, the fMRI results revealed that males showed a greater difference in functional activity associated with the rich experience of SenseCam vs verbal cues, than did females.

Taxonomic and functional composition of arthropod assemblages across contrasting Amazonian forests.

PubMed

Lamarre, Greg P A; Hérault, Bruno; Fine, Paul V A; Vedel, Vincent; Lupoli, Roland; Mesones, Italo; Baraloto, Christopher

2016-01-01

Arthropods represent most of global biodiversity, with the highest diversity found in tropical rain forests. Nevertheless, we have a very incomplete understanding of how tropical arthropod communities are assembled. We conducted a comprehensive mass sampling of arthropod communities within three major habitat types of lowland Amazonian rain forest, including terra firme clay, white-sand and seasonally flooded forests in Peru and French Guiana. We examined how taxonomic and functional composition (at the family level) differed across these habitat types in the two regions. The overall arthropod community composition exhibited strong turnover among habitats and between regions. In particular, seasonally flooded forest habitats of both regions comprised unique assemblages. Overall, 17·7% (26 of 147) of arthropod families showed significant preferences for a particular habitat type. We present a first reproducible arthropod functional classification among the 147 taxa based on similarity among 21 functional traits describing feeding source, major mouthparts and microhabitats inhabited by each taxon. We identified seven distinct functional groups whose relative abundance contrasted strongly across the three habitats, with sap and leaf feeders showing higher abundances in terra firme clay forest. Our novel arthropod functional classification provides an important complement to link these contrasting patterns of composition to differences in forest functioning across geographical and environmental gradients. This study underlines that both environment and biogeographical processes are responsible for driving arthropod taxonomic composition while environmental filtering is the main driver of the variance in functional composition. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2015 British Ecological Society.

Pulmonary function and fuel use: a population survey.

PubMed

Saha, Asim; Rao, N Mohan; Kulkarni, P K; Majumdar, P K; Saiyed, H N

2005-10-31

In the backdrop of conflicting reports (some studies reported adverse outcomes of biomass fuel use whereas few studies reported absence of any association between adverse health effect and fuel use, may be due to presence of large number of confounding variables) on the respiratory health effects of biomass fuel use, this cross sectional survey was undertaken to understand the role of fuel use on pulmonary function. This study was conducted in a village of western India involving 369 randomly selected adult subjects (165 male and 204 female). All the subjects were interviewed and were subjected to pulmonary function test. Analysis of covariance was performed to compare the levels of different pulmonary function test parameters in relation to different fuel use taking care of the role of possible confounding factors. This study showed that biomass fuel use (especially wood) is an important factor for deterioration of pulmonary function (particularly in female). FEV1 (p < .05), FEV1% (p < .01), PEFR (p < .05) and FEF(25-75) (p < .01) values were significantly lower in biomass fuel using females than nonusers. Comparison of only biomass fuel use vs. only LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) use and only wood vs. only LPG use has showed that LPG is a safer fuel so far as deterioration of pulmonary function is concerned. This study observes some deterioration of pulmonary function in the male subjects also, who came from biomass fuel using families. This study concluded that traditional biomass fuels like wood have adverse effects on pulmonary function.

The cooking task: making a meal of executive functions

PubMed Central

Doherty, T. A.; Barker, L. A.; Denniss, R.; Jalil, A.; Beer, M. D.

2015-01-01

Current standardized neuropsychological tests may fail to accurately capture real-world executive deficits. We developed a computer-based Cooking Task (CT) assessment of executive functions and trialed the measure with a normative group before use with a head-injured population. Forty-six participants completed the computerized CT and subtests from standardized neuropsychological tasks, including the Tower and Sorting Tests of executive function from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) and the Cambridge prospective memory test (CAMPROMPT), in order to examine whether standardized executive function tasks, predicted performance on measurement indices from the CT. Findings showed that verbal comprehension, rule detection and prospective memory contributed to measures of prospective planning accuracy and strategy implementation of the CT. Results also showed that functions necessary for cooking efficacy differ as an effect of task demands (difficulty levels). Performance on rule detection, strategy implementation and flexible thinking executive function measures contributed to accuracy on the CT. These findings raise questions about the functions captured by present standardized tasks particularly at varying levels of difficulty and during dual-task performance. Our preliminary findings also indicate that CT measures can effectively distinguish between executive function and Full Scale IQ abilities. Results of the present study indicate that the CT shows promise as an ecologically valid measure of executive function for future use with a head-injured population and indexes selective executive function’s captured by standardized tests. PMID:25717294

Brain activation during the spot the differences game.

PubMed

Fukuba, Eiji; Kitagaki, Hajime; Wada, Akihiko; Uchida, Kouji; Hara, Shinji; Hayashi, Takafumi; Oda, Kazushige; Uchida, Nobue

2009-01-01

Spot the Differences is a simple and popular game in which an observer compares a pair of similar pictures to detect the differences between them. Functional activation of the brain while playing this game has not been investigated. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the main cortical regions involved in playing this game and compared the sites of cortical activation between a session of playing the game and a session of viewing 2 identical pictures. The right posterior parietal cortex showed more activation during game playing, and cortical activation volume correlated with game-playing accuracy. This cortical region may play an important role in awareness of differences between 2 similar pictures.

Lead-acid batteries in micro-hybrid vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albers, Joern; Meissner, Eberhard; Shirazi, Sepehr

More and more vehicles hit the European automotive market, which comprise some type of micro-hybrid functionality to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Most carmakers already offer at least one of their vehicles with an optional engine start/stop system, while some other models are sold with micro-hybrid functions implemented by default. But these car concepts show a wide variety in detail-the term "micro-hybrid" may mean a completely different functionality in one vehicle model compared to another. Accordingly, also the battery technologies are not the same. There is a wide variety of batteries from standard flooded and enhanced flooded to AGM which all are claimed to be "best choice" for micro-hybrid applications. A technical comparison of micro-hybrid cars available on the European market has been performed. Different classes of cars with different characteristics have been identified. Depending on the scope and characteristics of micro-hybrid functions, as well as on operational strategies implemented by the vehicle makers, the battery operating duties differ significantly between these classes of vehicles. Additional laboratory investigations have been carried out to develop an understanding of effects observed in batteries operated in micro-hybrid vehicles pursuing different strategies, to identify limitations for applications of different battery technologies.

Energy Models and the Policy Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Man, Reinier

1983-01-01

Describes the function of econometric and technological models in the policy process, and shows how different positions in the Dutch energy discussion are reflected by the application of different model methodologies. Discussion includes the energy policy context, a conceptual framework for using energy models, and energy scenarios in policy…

Nonlocal electron transport: direct and Greens function solution and comparison of our model with the SNB model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colombant, Denis; Manheimer, Wallace; Schmitt, Andrew J.

2013-10-01

At least two models, ours and SNB (Schurtz-Nicolai-Busquet), and two methods of solution, direct numerical solution (DS) and Greens function (GF) are being used in multi-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics codes. We present results of a laser target implosion using both methods of solution. Although our model and SNB differ in some physical content, direct comparisons have been non-existent up to now. However a paper by Marocchino et al. has recently presented the results of two nanosecond-time-scale test problems, showing that the preheat calculated by the two models are different by about three orders of magnitude. We have rerun these problems and we find much less difference between the two than they do. One can show analytically that the results should be quite similar and are about an order of magnitude less than the maximum, and two orders of magnitude more than the minimum preheating in. We have been able to trace the somewhat different results back to the different physical assumptions made in each model. Work supported by DoE-NNSA and ONR.